Reality Intrudes

Reality Intrudes
On Sunday afternoon I took some flowers to two women in the Health Care Center. One was Khumi Morare, about whom I and many others have written much. The other was a young girl I did not know but every time I visited Khumi my heart broke when I saw her in what was the last stages of AIDS. She seemed so lost and so alone and I wanted to do something special so I took her a small bunch of flowers. When I got to the center she had been moved to isolation and had no idea I was there or that the flowers were there. Today I learned she died that evening. I must confess that in the work I do here with women, most of whom live with HIV and AIDS, I can get overly optimistic. I deal with women who are more well than sick and am tempted at times to think that all an HIV positive person needs to do is take the pills, the anti-retro viral drugs, and all will be well. This week I have learned first hand that this is not so. The face of AIDS is so ugly and a person dies with so little left of his or her person and dignity. I am thankful to be part of Living Hope that offers care and love to men and women as they are either nursed back to a measure of health or eventually die from the virus and its related illnesses. I have also learned that stigma , stress, lack of education, poverty, ignorance and difficult life choices combine to defeat many a strong minded woman in her fight against HIV and AIDS. You can never assume a person is taking the drugs as required and, even then, it can be brutal for the body to adjust, especially if that person had already been so weakened by the time they got their first treatment. I am grateful for the part we as Evangeline Ministries play as we work with these women to teach them sewing and basic computer skills; to help them with self esteem issues and encourage them in God's love for them. We however see them when they are doing better and can be lulled into thinking that all is forever well. Not so! I am humbled when I think of women and men in hospitals, health care centers, hospices and other places who take care of people who suffer from HIV and AIDS. May God give each of you, wherever you are the grace and love to do your jobs and we should all pray for a cure for this virus.