The Chance To Be A Child

It is safe to say that I think about my experience in Lesotho every day. Even though it has only been two months since our trip, I feel like it was yesterday that I was living in the beautiful Mountain Kingdom. My experiences, the people I met and the friendships I made will forever be memories that I hold close to my heart. One experience I would like to share with you, is about our morning spent at the Baylor Pediatric AIDS Clinic. It is tradition for the Wittenberg trips to go to Baylor and throw a carnival for the children waiting to be treated. We have tattoos, bubbles, a parachute, bracelet-making and more. My brother, Zac Daniels, went on the Wittenberg trip in the summer of 2011 and told me about how impactful, yet hard the day at Baylor would be. I started off at the bracelet-making station, which is where I met someone very special. A young girl, around 9, came and sat down next to me and started picking out beads for a bracelet. However, her hands and body were shaking so hard that she could not hold the thread steady enough to add beads. I began helping her by holding the thread, but even after completing a bracelet she was still shaking and had not cracked a smile yet. I decided to take her over to the bubbled station to see if I could break her out of her shell. I began by showing her how to blow the bubbles and her face was filled with wonder. I offered the bubble wand to her and as she blew her first bubble, I finally saw her smile. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever experienced.

We spent the rest of the day playing with bubbles, the parachute and on the playground.  I swear I have never seen a child so happy in my life. The transformation I witnessed from a scared and shaking child to a happy, carefree, exuberant little girl was incredible.   She didn’t speak one word of English, so I never even learned her name, but she became one of the most important people I’ve ever met. This young girl reminded me about what it means to be a child again and how to have fun without a care in the world.

Every day I spent in Lesotho was memorable and life-changing, but my experience at Baylor AIDS Clinic with this little girl will forever be one of the most important days of my life. Leaving her at the end of the afternoon was one of the hardest things I have ever experienced. I think about her all the time and hope that experiences the wonder of bubbles and the enjoyment of being a child every day.

Ka Khostso,

Kenzie Daniels

Kenzie is a student at Wittenberg University

World AIDS Day 2011

I’ll never forget the first time that the statistics on HIV and AIDS became real to me.  I was in Lesotho in 2009 with Wittenberg University during an intensive month-long service project.  We had spent time with children, orphans and other people affected or infected with HIV/AIDS during my time there.  But it wasn’t until a day at the Baylor AIDS Clinic that I was forever changed.

Baylor AIDS Clinic offers free HIV/AIDS medication, check-ups and testing for children infected by HIV/AIDS.  We went to Baylor one day to put on a carnival for the children at the clinic that day.  As you can imagine, being a child and having to go to the doctor’s is never fun.  But these children either had to go to the doctor’s their whole lives, or were there for their first time.  So we wanted to provide a day of distraction and fun for the children to get their minds off of the clinic.

My job on this day was to man the Bubble Station.  We had a bunch of different activities going on, from a bean bag toss, soccer game, face paint, arts and crafts, and much more.  Somehow I became Bubble Boy and was given the task to blow bubbles with the children.  I never knew such a simple thing could bring so much joy.  The kids liked blowing the bubbles, but really loved chasing them down and trying to pop them.  You should have seen the smiles and heard the laughter each time they were able to catch up to one of the bubbles!

During the day, there was one boy who was particularly intrigued by the bubbles.  He was probably about 3 years old, and had one of the greatest smiles on earth.  He spent most of his time with the bubbles, chasing them down and having the time of his life.  But after awhile, he became extremely exhausted because of his poor immune system and lack of energy from being HIV positive.  He climbed into my arms and lay there, with all of that energy and laughter gone. 

This was when it hit me.  This was when HIV/AIDS became a reality in my life.  No longer were they just numbers, statistics and ribbons.  The HIV/AIDS statistics now had a face, a smile, a laugh, a life.  And to come to the realization that this boy was born HIV positive, along with all the other young children there that day, was devastating.  I couldn’t hold it together, and the realization caused me great pain.  This was when my life changed, and I committed to keeping the promise and fight for an AIDS-free world.

It saddens me that the one day Lesotho is recognized and talked about is on World AIDS Day.  It is a country of such rich history, culture and beauty.  But my hope is that after people hear about the AIDS epidemic in Lesotho, they are moved to take action.  The possibility of hope, as daunting as it may seem, is possible in Lesotho.  For us, every day should be World AIDS Day until this deadly disease is wiped off our planet. 

Won’t you join us in our cause for an AIDS-free Lesotho?