Resourcefulness in Poverty

October 31, 2009 at 2:56 pm (Uncategorized)
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I try to resist getting too preachy when I start writing about certain topics, so forgive me if  I fail.  In my work here, or really in my everyday life I see glimpses of life that challenge my established thought patterns.  I just sat down to write a newsletter and thus found myself reflecting on what the African people around us are doing and how amazing they are.  Particularly when I think about people who have taken orphans into their homes.  They completely rearrange their lives and go to great expenses to serve these children.  Some of them have special needs that require a lot of attention.

I am also thinking about the clinic.  The people who work there are pouring themselves out and doing the best they can to meet the needs of those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.  Most of the people working there have at most, completed high school.  They can read and write French to some degree.  They don’t own computers to look up the latest research or protocol.  They don’t have access to major conferences or universities where there is teaching on the field of public health.  There are very few NGOs who come to this “insignificant” country, and when they do come it is even more rare for groups to make their way 6 hours north of the capital city.  In short, my colleagues are working in an area where the AIDS pandemic is out of control and they are working with some of the most meager resources of anywhere I’ve seen.

And yet they work.  They use what they are given.  They continue whether the support is there or not.  They continue doing they best they can even when they don’t have access to the newest information put out by the World Health Organization or Partners in Health.

I am trying to raise money to go to Vienna next summer so that I can attend the International AIDS Conference and bring back what I learn to help the clinic.  Raising money during a recession is pretty tough, and I can’t help but feel a little cynical.  I wonder if I won’t get the money, won’t be able to go, and then the people working at the clinic in the small town in this country will face yet another instance of not  warranting the attention or resources of others.  I’m not typically a cynical person, and I do see a bright side in all of this.  I greatly admire the way my friends and colleagues press on relentlessly despite the poverty of their resources.

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Orphan Repatriation

August 20, 2009 at 10:21 am (Uncategorized)
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Last night was a bittersweet evening as we were able to have dinner with some old friends who were lost and have been found, and as we spent our last evening with Kevin and Jenny, our friends from the clinic who are on their way back to the US today.

We were on our way back from Ghana after our retreat/vacation last week when we received a call from Kevin and Jenny .  There was some urgent business that needed to be taken care of, so we set up a meeting for the morning after our arrival back home.  Last year when we were here we were introduced to a family of four girls, Yvonne, Soolim, Massah, and Ruth.  They had lost their parents to AIDS and were living with their elderly grandmother.  These girls were healthy, friendly, and vivacious.

This November we returned from our trip to the US to find that three of the girls were gone.  Their uncle from Ghana had come to visit them and then decided to take them back to live with him against their wishes and the wishes of their grandmother.  We weren’t sure exactly where they were, so Kapitan set off on several trips to locate their village in Ghana and see that the family understood their health needs and that they were being cared for properly.  Over several months he did find the girls, spoke with the family, and tried to convince them of the importance that the two youngest receive their medication without fail.  These trips were unsuccessful.  So about two weeks ago he made another trip, having already spoken with an uncle that lives here in town, and with the uncle there with the agreement that the girls needed to move back here so that they can receive the medical care that the clinic provides.  For several reasons, some miscommunication and some family politics, he went but was unable to return with the girls.

We met last Wednesday morning to decide how to proceed, and the next day Mark, Kevin, Kapitan, and Abass (the director of the clinic) set off on a trip with medical papers and legal papers to try to convince the family that it is in the best interest of the girls to be where they can receive monitoring and treatment for HIV.  I am very thrilled to say that they were able to accomplish this and that the family agreed that it was the best decision.  Soolim, the second sister, is still with the family there and isn’t HIV positive so this poses no risk to her health.  Please pray for her as she is now apart from her three sisters.  We have spent the last two evenings with Yvonne, Massah, and Ruth and are grateful to see them so happy and healthy.

I am amazed at the lengths to which the people of the clinic will go in order to take care of their members.  They could have written off these children who had moved to another country and never would have been blamed for it.  The work that they do there is a work of the heart, and they see each individual they serve.  I am grateful to work with and learn from them.

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Camp for HIV/AIDS Children

August 13, 2009 at 4:10 pm (Uncategorized)
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Every year, Peace Corps volunteers in the country of Togo work to host Camp Espoir, a summer camp for children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.  This year they were running very short on funds, and we were able to contact some friends from Singing Oaks who very generously helped with the cause.  Amee and Alicia, the Peace Corps Volunteers who headed up the camp, invited us to come spend some time there.  So Maddie, our intern Abbie, our friend Shannon (who spends her summers volunteering at AED) and I headed down to spend the night and take part in the camp activities.

We got there on the last day of camp, and arrived just in time for the group discussions on discrimination and stigma.  We watched as the kids talked about these issues, then broke into groups and performed skits to demonstrate what they had learned.  It was great to see these children speaking openly about things that have an impact on their daily lives, yet are taboo to discuss.  At camp, they were able to be who they are without fear of being judged or ostracized.

After the group discussion they had a mock market.  They had divided into groups earlier in the week in order to learn to make things that they could sell at the market and perhaps earn a little money for themselves.  At the mock market, children were given camp money and groups sold what they had made.  Maddie was given an allotment of camp money and we were able to sample a little of everything that was offered.  There was popcorn, juice, two different types of peanut candy (one very similar to peanut brittle,) beignets, and beaded jewelry.  I was very pleasantly surprised that all of the snacks were quite good!

After market, there was free time during which the children could choose to do art, sports, or rest.  We enjoyed getting to know some of the people and talked until dinner.  Dinner was provided and was delicious.  They offered African fare but also provided some roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetables for the Americans.  I didn’t expect that at all but found that it was wonderful!  I noted that the dinner tables were very quiet as the campers had worked up great appetites during the day and were very focused on their food.  It was good to see these children being provided for so plentifully.

That evening we congregated to watch the camp slide show, then headed down to the pavilion were we celebrated with a dance party.  The party was a lot of fun and I was honestly impressed with many of the kids’ ability to dance.  There was a great celebratory spirit, and it was inspiring to see these kids cut loose and enjoy themselves before heading back home the next morning.

The next morning they had breakfast, then a final session.  We loaded them into taxi vans and provided them with lunches to eat on the way, then they were off and so were we.  For many of them I know that they were returning to very difficult lives. Many didn’t have families to go home to.  Many will return to places where they have to pretend that they are not dealing with the difficulties presented by HIV/AIDS.  Many will not have the camaraderie or support that they found at camp until next summer.  My heart and prayers go out to these children as they go back to daily life, and I’m  thankful to AED, the Peace Corps, the volunteers, and my friends at Singing Oaks who gave them the chance to let their worries and concerns go for week!

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Update on Awe

March 27, 2009 at 11:43 am (Uncategorized)
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I wanted to post an update on Awe.  We have not been able to find a new home for him, but have spoken with the grandmother and she is willing to start feeding him again and start him back on meds.  His home situation is being monitored three to four days a week, and we have started him on a diet that should re-nourish his body.  He has already gained some strength.  We will continue to look for a home for Awe as his grandmother is still less than enthusiastic about his care.  Thank you all for your prayers for him.

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What is beautiful in the world?

March 17, 2009 at 1:35 pm (Uncategorized)
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Today I went to the clinic and met with Capitaine who informed me that we needed to go check on a little boy who has been sick.  Awe (Ah-way) is nine years old and has been living with his grandmother since his mother died in 2005.  He is HIV positive and blind due to an illness he contracted in December 2007.  Awe’s grandmother feels overextended by her responsibility to care for a child with a disability and has therefore made the decision to quit feeding him and giving him his ARVs.

When we went to Awe’s home, I asked if there were any other children living there, and Capitaine said that there weren’t.  I wondered then, who is the child sleeping on the porch that looks to be around five years of age?  It was nine year old Awe.  We sat down and spoke with Awe for awhile, whose grandmother was out working in the fields quite a ways away, and we found that he had not eaten that day.  He did not stir from laying in fetal position during the duration of our visit, but spoke to us freely and without complaint.  All he asked was that we bring him some bread.  We left to go get him some rice, peanut sauce with vegetables, and oranges, and then returned to feed him.  He ate with trembling hands, but not very much as his stomach had grown so unaccustomed to food that he could only eat a few small bites at a time.  After his “meal,” he laid back down in the same position we found him and talked to us some more.

After we left Awe, we went to visit a woman who is trying to help find a family who will take Awe in and nurse him back to health.  Once he regains his health and strength, we will search for a way to get him into a school for the blind.

Awe’s full name means “What is beautiful in the world?”  He is intelligent, sweet, and full of potential, but his life is like a candle flame in the wind that will surely be snuffed out unless someone intervenes.  He will never cry out that his human rights are being violated.  He does not even seem to realize that every child deserves to be fed, loved, nurtured and cared for.  He doesn’t realize that having a disability does not make you worthless.

Please pray for Awe, and for the family who will take him into their home, and into their hearts.

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AIDS and Cognitive Dissonance

May 23, 2008 at 11:21 am (Uncategorized)
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May 18, 2008

 

One of the difficulties of going back to the US after time in Africa is trying to communicate about life and work here.  I am already feeling the tension of that very issue as concerns my experiences with the AIDS clinic.  America is so far removed from this place where even the best medical care would not satisfy our standards.  The stories of hardship and suffering that are status quo here are so far off our radar that they begin to sound like some over dramatized soap opera, not real life.  

 

I guess it is impossible to really communicate what we’ve seen, and that’s why it makes such a huge impact when people come to visit.  It is oftentimes life changing (it led Mark and I, and all of our teammates to raise our families here!)  However, I can’t say all of that without also saying that the resiliency and joy of life that I’ve seen here is beautiful and inspiring.  I count it as a great privilege to be here, work with the Togolaise, get to know them, and be a part of their lives.  

Do you have any thoughts on these issues?  I’d appreciate hearing about them as it might help provide clarity and perspective.

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