the truth about HIV.
one day, while in Uganda, we went to an orphanage named Our Own Home.
44 children live there....22 girls and 22 boys.
this day was a gift.
it was beautiful to see kids being kids.
it was beautiful to see the young woman, Holly, & her family
devote their lives to these children.
it was beautiful to see each one of these children,
formerly outcast & abandoned being loved. truly loved.
below are the group of oldest girls.
i owe them many more of these stretchy headbands when i go back.
chloe & anika had purchased them for me to take & they were quite the hit!
i loved hanging out with them talking about High School Musical, boys &
fashion. i loved seeing their room plastered with posters and talking about
their dreams.
they are normal teenage girls.
below are the group of oldest girls.
i owe them many more of these stretchy headbands when i go back.
chloe & anika had purchased them for me to take & they were quite the hit!
i loved hanging out with them talking about High School Musical, boys &
fashion. i loved seeing their room plastered with posters and talking about
their dreams.
they are normal teenage girls.
yet, their society [our society!] often doesn't see them that way.
Our Own Home is a refuge for children with HIV/AIDS.
i have learned so much about HIV in the last year and
the most shocking thing to me is how the average person's
knowledge about HIV hasn't increased in almost 3 decades.
the truth is:
that HIV is a chronic disease that is very manageable with medication.
that is is IMPOSSIBLE to get HIV from normal, casual contact....even kissing.
HIV has NEVER been transferred in a normal household setting. never ever.
that HIV could be absolutely eliminated without needle sharing & with condom use.
we had such a great time with these kids.
we painted nails, colored, played soccer, did playdoh & chatted.
i might have fallen in love with a little guy named Josiah.
what a doll.
Holly informed me that almost all the children there would technically
be adoptable, yet they haven't had even one adoption. not one.
that broke my heart.
we have to fight for these kids.
they are worthy and whole and they deserve a family.
Our Own Home is doing amazing things,
yet i know that God made children to be in families.
there is an organization called Project Hopeful that
God is using to do amazing things regarding education about adoption of kids with HIV.
i totally admit that i rarely, rarely, rarely watch videos that people post.
but, you have to pinky promise me you'll watch this one.
seriously. watch this. please.
click for more information on donating, sponsoring or volunteering with:
and
for great information & resources about adopting and advocating for children with HIV:
please feel free to discuss in comments. i get that this is something that many
people just don't know much about. maybe you do & could shed more light on the
subject. maybe you don't and you have questions. nothing like knowledge to
set us [and these children!] free.
Thank you for your love and dedication to the children of Uganda. Our family has just started the process of adoption from there and your posts have been such an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteOkay. I'll be brave & ask some questions....
ReplyDeleteSo, blood to an open wound is not a problem? Or, blood in the mouth (from brushing teeth) is not a problem for a kiss? And, what you say condoms prevent spread. What about breakage or leakage? That is a common issue for condoms. They are really not very effective. Right?
I want to understand the truth!
Thanks for posting this. The girls at Our Own Home are beautiful.
cindy--congratulations! enjoy this journey and all the waiting. He really does have that for a purpose! =)
ReplyDeleteerin--i appreciate you being brave and asking. i'm not an expert, but i've read up as much as i can and look forward to doing more. here is what i understand:
blood to an open wound is a potential problem. universal precautions still have to be followed as it should with ANYONE'S blood. if someone is bleeding, a barrier should be put between the blood & your skin and wash your hands like normal. in normal household situations, HIV has not been transmitted in the last 15 years!
here's the thing with kissing. there is no risk closed mouth. a REMOTE risk with deep, open mouth kissing when there are open sores or blood present. this is from the CDC.
also, with proper medication, the titer levels of the HIV present can be amazingly low....even non-existent! HIV is chronic, so it doesn't just go away, but it does become almost undetectable in a person--and consequently makes it even more difficult to transmit to another person.
yes, of course a condom could break. though i'm not sure what the percentage of time that this happens is. the thing is that condoms are not readily available or readily used in many parts of the world. much more education and availability needs to happen in this regard.
the fact remains that we don't have to think up obscure ways that this disease might be transmitted.
i appreciate you, erin!!
Love, this post made me cry. Thank you for loving these kids, for kissing Eli when you were here. It does a mama's heart so much good to see her child embraced and loved in spite of (and maybe because of) his disease. :)
ReplyDeletealso, to Erin, I love that you are brave enough to ask questions. THAT in itself is the key to ridding ourselves of the stigma of HIV?AIDS. About household transmission...another thing to keep in mind is that in the US, HIV treatment has become so advanced as to allow many people to achieve "undetectable" status. That means that the level of HIV in the blood is so low that it is not detectable by normal tests. The person still "has" the virus, but the chances of transmission, even from an open wound, are significantly decreased. Praise the Lord for medicine! Can't wait to get Eli home and on good drugs. :)
I love this. I read And The Band Played On a few months ago and it hit me that AIDs education has stalled since the 80s, meaning that a lot of the prejudices are still intact. I mean, people know a little more than they did then, but nit much and that's just sad. I'm thankful you have the opportunity to be a voice for this.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to see more and more people raising awareness of HIV/AIDS. It's something I studied A LOT in college and is a topic I'm quite passionate about. Thanks for bringing light to this, Love!
ReplyDeleteI love that you posted this.
ReplyDeleteMy friend has adopted 2 little boys from Ethiopia and is now looking into adopting a child with HIV next. We've talked about it for awhile and I've been researching and watching videos and just - wow. How ignorant we are!
Thanks for speaking out about it!
I am LOVING this discussion. So needed, so necessary, thank you, Love. I can see your heart here, God fashioned you for this!
ReplyDeleteSteph
Okay a misconception my husband and I were just talking about yesterday over lunch- When monies are donated to help with medicating these children primarily in Africa with Aids have you heard or know of "people" stepping in and 'stealing' the medication??
ReplyDelete28 Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolan is a brilliant book about the AIDS crisis and it really helped me see the big picture. It talks about why AIDS continues to spread at such an alarming rate, the stigmas that face people with HIV/AIDS due to lack of education and what I thought was most sad of all: the pharmaceutical industry's resistance to make ARV treatments financially accessible to the general population. Heartbreaking but VERY enlightening.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing this topic up Love.
Love you spirit!
I left behind part of my heart in Ethiopia with a little girl (much like my own) who had HIV. I have thought about her NON-STOP since returning from our second trip. GUESS WHAT??? She has a family!!!! I was so overjoyed (and maybe even a tad jealous!) to hear that someone followed God's leading for their family! I have been reading and researching a lot on this topic....
ReplyDeleteBeautiful story to share and an even more beauitful family!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I have really been praying about this and while it might seem silly...we were wondering about the cost of the meds. Is it something insurance would cover?
ReplyDeletelove project hopeful. sooo amazing! love the discussion here. =)
ReplyDeleteI love that you wrote about this...I sometimes talk on my blog about Blood:Water Mission, a cause dear to my heart that addresses the aids and water crisis in Africa....I SO love that you are a part of the change we need to see there.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the discussion! Love & Mandie Joy I had no idea about the good medication available. I am one of the "ignorant" ones!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this beautiful story. We are about to bring home our first child from Uganda hopefully in the next few month. Our next may just be a HIV child from Uganda. Thank you so much for telling all of these beautiful children's stories.
ReplyDeleteHershey's Mama--i've never heard of that, but as with anything, the possibility of corruption is always there. research on the ministry or organization is vital.
ReplyDeleteJenna--i'm not sure about all insurances, but i know that the moment clayton was legally ours, he was added to our insurance and they said that it would not have mattered about ANY conditions that he might have had prior to becoming our child. i THINK this is pretty standard with adoption, but it's a great question to research.
Julie--hooray!!! =)
A friend just sent me the link to this post. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am a missionary living in Ukraine and work a lot with HIV+ children -- some orphans and some not. I have recently begun advocating for families for these children through Eli Project (and soon through Project Hopeful as well...just haven't finished with their forms yet!) Just yesterday I posted the need for HIV/AIDS education worldwide...we have done such a great job of frightening people from the virus that now people are afraid of PEOPLE. Yikes! Education is the key.
ReplyDeleteI'm always happy to answer any questions people have about pediatric HIV and HIV adoption in general. I want to Thank You So Much for this post! It is so important for people to learn the Truth about HIV. Project Hopeful has another great video called Truth Pandemic which I LOVE http://projecthopeful.org/get-involved/truth-pandemic
ReplyDeleteAll of the American health insurance companies cover the pediatric HIV medications. Also, children with pre-existing conditions are now eligible for enrollment in private healthcare policies (new law started September 2010).
The idea that HIV could be transmitted from wounds, kissing and sharing a toothbrush are very remote if the HIV+ person is taking medicine (which means they are likely have an undetectable amount of the virus in their bloodstream). The fact is that people who are diligent about taking their meds are close to NON-INFECTIOUS. Yes, even if a condom were to break, (never mind kissing!) Here is a link about that: http://positivelyorphaned.org/2010/06/22/antiretroviral-therapy-significantly-cuts-risk-of-hiv-transmission/
im living in africa right now as my husband is working with an HIV research project. i have learned so so much about the disease through him- things that have really destroyed a lot of misconceptions i used to have. like you said, there are a few simple things that could be done that would HUGELY impact (decrease) the spread of HIV. it is such a heart breaking situation.
ReplyDeletepraying for these sweet orphans.