If you read my last post you would know that a book about
AIDS in Ethiopia
After reading this book I literally could not get through a
day without crying. I would start crying
at the most random times too- not during some deep thought provoking alone time
(because remember, I'm a mom and those times aren't allowed)
During this time I got involved with a non-profit agency called,
"Project Hopeful." I became their Connecticut
http://www.projecthopeful.org/
I started looking into HIV adoptions. Here is where I learned the TRUTH about
HIV.
*HIV is a chronic but
manageable disease.
* Many people still mistakenly believe people can
contract the HIV virus through casual contact or a family setting.
* People are unaware that HIV
has Never been transmitted in a normal household setting.
*children with access to
medicine can live a long normal life (yes including marriage and family!)
*I also learned that 'Stigma'
is the worst thing that comes along with this disease and is usually the
hardest part!
* Most HIV orphans never get adopted and
therefore never gain access to life saving meds.
Long story short: I became
passionate about this cause, Mike really
thought I was nuts, I kept praying, Mike kept saying no, I kept praying,
Mike started listening, I kept praying, Mike started asking ?'s, I kept
praying, Mike said, 'let's change our homestudy to include HIV children.'
The twins do not have HIV so at first I was a bit confused on what all
the above was about then. That was a
long year of praying- but Im glad we went through that conflict. It not only is a testimony that prayer works
(lets just say there was initial STRONG oppositions:) but we now have an
involvement in Project Hopeful that is bringing hope to HIV orphans all over
the word (you can check out the above website to see all that they do.)
But now we can see a part of the bigger picture...
The twins father passed away from AIDS shortly after the
girls were born.
Their widow mother has raised them herself...not a small
feat in eastern Africa .
She held on as long as she could but a few months ago she had
to relinquish the girls because AIDS has taken over her health...she could no
longer care for her girls.
The roles reversed
and these girls were caring for their mother...instead of school they would
stay home and look after her...at 9 years old.
This region is highly devastated by this disease and therefore there
were no family members who could take in the girls.
The twins have been living in an orphanage for the past few
months, they are healthy and do not have HIV, but they are broken hearted and I
would say that it's safe to say that they have seen and experienced more
suffering and sorrow than most grown adults I know.
The girls have actually been 'lucky enough' to even make it
into an orphanage. Most orphanages are
overcrowded and cant even take children in.
The children then take to the streets and it would not be long before the
girls would have been in strong danger of prostitution for survival or sold
into sex slavery. Also most rural Ethiopian girls marry very young- some just 12 years
old. The men are usually much
older. Many girls die is childbirth
because there bodies are so small from mal-nutrition. Many girls contract HIV from their
husbands. And thus the cycle continues.
This is not a sweet- goose bumpy adoption story. To be quite honest it's not the story we
would have picked! But in reality all
adoptions stem from a loss. In a perfect
world children stay with their parents. But this is a broken world.
It is unfathomable what their birth-mother most be going through. In Ethiopia
But the Truth does set us
free...and I pray that we will be able to travel to her and break that stigma-
all I want to do is give that woman hugs and kisses and tell her that she is my
hero. She raised these girls on her own
until she no longer could hold on. I am going
to tell her to save a nice spot in heaven for us and that her legacy will live
on in her beautiful daughters lives.
Now you can see why I covet your prayers for these girls.
I lost my father when I was the girls age. Although I believe they are experiencing a
higher sense of trauma- I also know what this loss feels like as a young
girl. It is a painfully sad place that
when I re-visit those days in my head- the tears can flow like it was only
yesterday. I can never forget him and
always miss him.
And so as an adoptive mother to these girls- I will always know that
they miss their birth mom, and that they will carry that with them for the rest
of their lives. And that's the way it
should be. Im sure we will eventually
gain turf in the girls hearts but we are
more than happy to share that place with the woman who gave them life.
Like I mentioned in the
earlier post- patents on HIV drugs and the fact that Africa is vanishing while
we continue on boils my blood...now I will have 2 new daughters in my life
because of this fact. I love them
already but I would give my right arm for them to have not have had to say good
bye to their dying mother because she has no access to medicine.
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