5th Update

It seems to me that to really experience how people in Kenya are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS you need to do two things - make a home visit in a slum to a person infected with the virus and sit and listen to their story. The second is to hold a baby infected with AIDS. Today Lorri and Kimberly did both of those things.. They made a home visit to someone infected and they held an infected two year old child. I was proud of both of them as they empathically watched Partners for Care nurses Paul and Elizabeth along with Community Transformers (CT)volunteer community workers make a home visit. They witnessed first hand the suffering caused by this disease.
The two year child is the child from Nick's uncle who died from AIDS last week. The mother is infected and has left - she denies her status. Nick had the little girl tested on Monday and found she is infected. She most likely became infected from her mother during delivery. She will have her CD4 count done soon. I expect it will be low and she will join Brian, Faith, Rebecca and thousands of other children in the world infected with AIDS who take ARVs to keep them alive. She is very frail and has sores on her back and legs.
She becomes the 24th child Nick and Charles are caring for.
One of the home visits was to the family of one of the CT volunteers. He was one of the 40 group leaders for the children's conference. You would have never believed his family story. Five adults and three children live in one of the slum houses - a room, a very small room. You cannot imagine that many people live there. Elizabeth did a beautiful job at assessing the health status of those sick in the family. Three of his siblings have died from AIDs already. His father has died from the disease. His 21 year-old sister has AIDS and TB. She was bed-ridden and very frail. And his mother is infected and on ARVs. The mom has pneumonia. The ARVs are free but not the medication for the pneumonia. The family doesn't have enough money for the medication or food. We prayed for the family. We bought the medication for her. This is an example of the family destruction of this disease. Our hearts were touched by the the young CT volunteer who shared his smile and his love for the Lord last week at the GOA children's conference.
The worship team also went and are continuing their work with about 20 CT volunteers training them in voice and how they can teach voice and music to the youth of Mathare. These youth will then begin a music therapy program ministering at the bedside of those dying from AIDS in Mathare slum.
It was a good day for the team working where we think Jesus would go - to the sick and dying.
If you want you can pray for the little girl infected with AIDS - her name is Elizabeth.
Connie, Lorri and Kimberly
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