Sivivane Camp 2009

We finished camp! Woo Hoo! It was bitter sweet. Its nice to get a chance to sleep again, but sad to have to not be with the people anymore. Elizabeth Glacier Pediatric Foundation, Baylor Clinic, Paul Newman Foundation (Hole In the Wall), Young Heroes (NERCHA), and SNAP (Swaziland National Aids Program...plus US Peace Corps and much more were involved. The kids are now meeting in urban Swaziland for support group meetings. Soon Baylor Pediatric Clinic for HIV/AIDS hope to extended and decentralize the program into a community closer to me. I'm excited because maybe I can still work with kids in my community suffering with HIV and it would be closer to my village. The older teens for the 2nd week of camp were fun. Teenage life is just like I remembered...hours in front of the mirrors, talking about boys, and figuring out who you are. Some of these kids are head of the households though and also suffering with side effects from HIV treatments. I can't imagine what some of them are going through, but I am so thankful they shared their week with me. My favorite part was something very bitter sweet that I talked about earlier. Each day the girls would take their Anti Retro-viral meds. Before breakfast and before bed. Some also had to take ear drops, stomach pills, TB meds, etc. to fight off the other illnesses that were attacking their weak immune systems. I'm into my 2nd year here working daily with people who are positive, but I've never actually saw every aspect. I always return to my hut after working with my support groups in my community and don't actually see the details of living an HIV+ life. At camp, I was with them 24/7. I took them to the toilet when they would get sick. I saw the side effects and results of the virus every day and I stood with them as they took their meds. We would cheer for them once they finished administering all the medications. I can't begin to tell you what it was like to cheer for them. Me and two other women who worked with the girls in my group would clap and chant our team name as they swallowed. It was awesome because the girls would smile, but painful because I thought how everyday when they wake up and when they go to bed they are reminded that they are HIV+ by taking these meds. Some weren't even given a choice. Their parents gave it to them. Others made a mistake once or had no options in their mind because maybe they needed money and offering their bodies to older adults was the answer to get food or security. No matter what though, we dedicated ourselves to letting them be kids for a week. We gave them awards, through them up on on shoulders, taught them games, and let them feel safe and free. They didn't have to hide the fact they were HIV+ because kids from school weren't there or their brothers and sisters. It was an amazing experience watching them get excited and happy. We taught them actions to an R. Kelly song "World's Greatest" and they did actions. Some who were 16 looked like they were 9 because HIV slowed their growth. They had the smartest wittiest things to say, yet it came fro a body that didn't give them credit for their age. At the end of camp, the kids wrote journals. While reading them some said things like, "I was scared to talk before because I'm sick, but camp made me feel safe. I want to talk now." When I read some of the things and pictured the kids who I knew that said that...my heart dropped into my stomach. They really loved camp. The people from Hole In the Wall/Baylor CLinic are amazing. You should look it up online. I feel so blessed to be in Swaziland working with these kids and I really pray that God can use me to help in any way.

I hope you are all well. Please let me know how you are doing! Be blessed this Christmas season! Love you guys!