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Katie McKillen’ÄîStrength is often characterized by the size of one’Äôs muscles or the ability to lift an object. However, this strength in no way describes that demonstrated by the Ugandan people I see everyday. They display an inner strength that shines throughout their culture’Äîan inner strength found by people who to take the hand dealt to them and play it well. The first day at the Naguru Health Clinic I watched as woman after woman walked into a small make-shift tent with their heads held high on their way to get tested for HIV. This test would not only determine whether they themselves had HIV, but also if there was chance of transmitting the virus to their baby. The courage of these women is demonstrated even more when they are asked to bring their husbands back for testing in order to ensure the virus cannot be received elsewhere. But this strength does not stop with the women. In the rooms right next door, teenagers from 12-21 are taking the same test and being told to keep perfectly straight faces after being told the results. Even though 13 out of every 30 people tested come out positive, the adolescents are able to keep their stern faces and the pregnant mothers are able to keep their heads held high. The testing is just a small bump in the journey of some of these lives. I next saw the treatment center where a counselor was determining whether to provide ARVs to a patient, as she had no friends or family who would be able to monitor the side effects of the drugs. The woman looked down with tears rolling across her cheeks as she held the hands of her two very young children. She explained that she would do whatever possible to provide a better life for her sons. And even though there was no one who she could turn to for her own help, she was determined to allow here children to live a full life with all the strength she had left. The obstacles in some of these journeys are even larger for those without parents. Yet, the orphans have the courage to tell their stories to us (complete strangers) and ask for help when they need it. But the most amazing strength of all is found when along these bumps and obstacles people manage to find joy and solace in everyday life.
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Brittani Hale’ÄîOver the past couple of weeks I have thoroughly enjoyed the home visits that we go on three times a week with Meet Point Kampala. Each person we visit is a true testament to the difference that Meeting Point is making in people’Äôs lives and the fight against HIV/AIDS. Many of the people we visit have been abandoned by friends and family, left alone in their suffering and struggle to fight this horrible disease. Many others are refuges who have been forced to flee their homes as a result of war. They arrive in Kampala with nothing and no one to help them. Weakened by their illness, they are unable to work to earn enough money simply to survive. Meeting Point often finds its clients when they have given up hope and fallen into a state of utter despair.
¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬ÝThe other day we visited a woman named Aisha whose story illustrates this despair all too well. When Meeting Point found Aisha, she was HIV+, paralyzed in both her arms and legs, and being ’Äútaken care of’Äù by her uncle. In actuality her uncle was doing almost nothing for her so she was left to fend for herself despite the fact that she was unable to move. Volunteers at Meeting Point began cooking and cleaning for her and visiting her every day to provide the support she so desperately needed. Aisha began taking ARVs and has since regained some function in her hands and arms so that she is able to cook when by the fire. But she is still unable to walk or use her legs so she must rely on others to move her, even if it is only from her bed to the fire’Äîa mere five feet. Santa, one of the amazing women who lead us on home visits, said that it used to be only tears when they came to visit Aisha. All she could do was cry. But now Aisha is able to laugh. She has food and people that care about here. Yet, you can still see the pain her eyes when you talk to her and sense her suffering through her quiet and withdrawn demeanor.
¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬ÝI don’Äôt know how anyone could get over the isolation, abandonment, and neglect that Aisha experienced. But she is making progress largely due to the dedicated efforts of Meeting Point volunteers, some of whom are clients themselves. On our visits we have seen clients at all stages of interaction with Meeting Point. Some are still very weak and just beginning to take their ARVs, while others have made complete turnarounds as a result of the drugs and the small loan that Meeting Point supplies to many of their clients so that they can get back on their feet. We see those who are overflowing with joy and gratitude and those with pain still flowing from their eyes. But it is clear from the clients who are now out helping their neighbors and communities to those still confined to their homes due to blindness or other physical disabilities that many no longer have to suffer alone. Meeting Point Kampala is changing lives.
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Friday, July 7, 2006
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