A Request and a Promise

As a medical student, I have learned about the health impact of HIV/AIDS for the individual patient. I have learned about the anticipated disease course, treatment regimens, preventative measures, and support groups for patients and their families. In the United States, an HIV diagnosis has a troubling prognosis but has improved greatly in the last three decades since the disease emerged. The medical research community may be years away from a vaccine or cure, but HIV may be considered a chronic condition in some patients. However, the impact of HIV/AIDS on any individual, regardless of country or wealth is tangible and dramatic.

HIV/AIDS has dramatically changed the landscape and culture of Lesotho. In a country of 1.8 million, there are an estimated 160,000 orphans and vulnerable children. The impact is noticeable in every village, despite improvements in detection and treatment. The need for change and improvement is apparent. The problem-solving (and public health) part of my brain wants to assess communities and villages, design programs in collaboration with the villages, and record results and improvements in the outcomes for these orphans to celebrate their successes. However, my motivation and passion to improve the lives of Basotho children is not driven by the analytical part of my brain. My motivation and passion comes from my heart and a promise to a young mother in Lesotho in 2009.

On my second trip to Lesotho in 2009, a brief conversation with a young mother changed my life forever. We were at the Baylor Pediatric Centre of Excellence, a treatment facility for HIV positive children, to play and interact with the children while they waited for their appointments at the clinic. It was relatively quiet near the water tap and I was taking a moment to enjoy the smiles and laughter around me. The mother approached me with her youngest child on her back, secured by a Basotho blanket. We exchanged greetings and I explained why we were at the clinic. Then she asked me one of the hardest questions I’ve ever had to answer, “Will you take my child back to the United States? I’m HIV positive and I can’t take care of her.” I fumbled over my words and held back tears as I tried to explain that I couldn’t take her child. A laundry list of reasons and excuses ran through my head, but they all seemed insufficient. So in that moment, I did the only thing that seemed to do justice to the young mother’s request. I promised that I would finish my education and work as hard as I could to improve the lives of Basotho orphans and vulnerable children. I could not make an individual promise to the young mother and her children, but I could promise to never forget her children or her country. It wasn’t enough for her that day, but it is the best I could do.

Every morning I am reminded of her face as she made such a challenging request and I work tirelessly to fulfill my promise to her. I have a few more years of medical school ahead of me, but I am able to work on my promise by volunteering with Bloom Africa. Bloom Africa has allowed me to accomplish more than I ever could as an individual, a true example of Ubuntu. “You cannot do all the good the world needs, but the world needs all the good you can do” (Anonymous).

Khotso & Lerato (Peace & Love),

Betty

Betty Cheney currently serves as the  Secretary of the Bloom Africa Board of Directors. She is a medical student at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

We Took A Chance

We took a chance. We went.  Because we went, we saw.  Because we saw, we felt.  We felt deep pain and innocent joy.  We questioned with struggles too complex to answer.    We served, we laughed, we cried, we sang, and we danced.  We danced a lot.  But above all, we loved.  And in this love formed the truest bond between two different groups of people from two different counties and two different backgrounds.  We had different skin color and we spoke different languages.  We had different opportunities in life based on the family we were born into.  And yet, we were all the same. 

We are all the same.  So now we talk.  We teach.  We tell.  We find ways to advocate and we embrace in the hope of a another chance.  A chance to make a change in a country that so badly deserves an opportunity.  An opportunity to live.  To be healthy.  And an opportunity to sustainably live in a country devastated by poverty.

So we serve with Bloom.  We write.  We dream.  And we raise funds to support the most vulnerable children of Lesotho.  We communicate.  With the people in our country and the people in their country.  We continue to serve alongside. 

But we cannot do it alone.  

So we ask for your help.  Because you can make a difference.  A small one.  And together our small acts of love will transform.  Into a bigger change.  A greater change.  Centered around the love that was started from a chance. 

Ka Khotso,

Katharine         

Katharine is a senior at Wittenberg University and intern with Bloom Africa.

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