Tiny Tim and Friends

 

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January 2010

Gladys, Elidah and Stanley

 Gladys and her two children, Elidah (11) and Stanley (7) are all HIV positive. These three fall into the TT&F target group of the most vulnerable members of society with HIV. They live in the John Lang Compound in Lusaka, where the Women’s Group is based. Gladys is an active member of the group, which monitors others in the community and works to combat stigma. While some would look at the situation as bleak, the three look like a picture of hope. TT&F allows all three to be looked after by the same clinic and to be well known to the same team. They receive nutritional support as well as medical and social support. Elidah is in the process of receiving educational support to sponsor her school fees and uniform. They are familiar and welcome faces at clinics and the benefit they receive from the organization is apparent.

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2/28/06 – Abel is one of the new admissions to Jon Hospice Day Care.  Abel is a very quiet buy who avoids eye contact but answers each question in perfect English.  His father died of HIV and his mother is sick but not yet on ARs as she refuses to believe that she is ill.  She can’t work, so they are “just surviving,” according to the social worker who brought Abel to Day Care.

3/09/06 – Abel and Emelda were examined and the thought was surely that they both had HIV.  After testing, one of the tests seemed to normal for a child with HIV so I checked their status and low-and-behold they are both HIV negative.

Normally we would then transition them to a public school and out of Day Care but they are both pretty desperate in terms of the social conditions and so we are making an exception and letting them remain.

Strangely, they both have signs of malnourishment and other findings that suggested HIV to me, so I would have never guessed they were not infected.  They may not need ARVs, some of these children, but they all sure do need an improvement in their living conditions and nutrition.

Ackim is 6 years old and new to Day Care.  His mother has AIDS and is actually sick in hospital right now.  His father is already dead.  Ackim has had a rough year, suffering from TB which was treated and then last December a terrible Herpes Zoster infection of the right side of his face which left terrible scarring and he is completely blind in his left eye.  01/25/06Ackim started ARVs from University Teaching Hospital 6 months ago and he is looking and feeling much better. TT&F will be trying to find an ophthamologist who might be able to help restore some vision in his right eye.  He speaks wonderful English and has a beautiful smile.  We are all very happy to have him at Day Care.

	Living in the Lusaka compounds while struggling financially is especially difficult for mothers.  Culturally, they are expected to be the breadwinners, while also watching over the children, the husband, and the family home.  Yet even with all these responsibilities, they are still considered second-class citizens to men on far too many occasions.  Women’s empowerment issues are an extremely important issue for improving situations in Zambia.
The story of the woman holding her dying child in these pictures is a very tragic example:  she was powerless to seek medical intervention for her child in time, or at least hindered from it, because her husband refused to have the child referred to a doctor.  While there are also many reasons to suspect that the woman her husband and the child are HIV positive, her husband also rejected efforts to have all of them tested and subsequently treated for HIV.
This young child died the day after this picture was taken, and he received what medical care TT&F could offer him.  But because the father refused to take the child to the hospital that day, and because the child was seen for the first time in such a critical state, the story for him ended poorly.

 

Pictured here are Dr. Ben weighing one of the girls and our clinical officer, Ntula, recording the information.

When the Tiny Tim and Friends Outreach Team arrived at Matero School they found that the consent forms had not been signed by the parents or caregivers so none of the children could actually be tested for HIV.  Instead they were all weighed, measured and given a quick exam to check for breathing problems, etc.  The team decided to return at a later date to re-examine the children and give them actual HIV tests.  If any of the children are found to be positive they are given counseling along with their caregivers and enrolled in the TTF program.

 

 

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Alice is a five year old orphan who was tested at an TTF Outreach.  She was enrolled in the TTF Program after she was screened and the result was positive for HIV. She was malnourished, had a persistent cough, chronic diarrhea and had developed a skin rash. She was started on antiretroviral medication to, “put the virus to sleep”. The team became concerned as she was not responding appropriately to the medication. Alice was being cared for by her grandmother and they had recently moved across Zambia, from the Copperbelt, seeking shelter and the support of other family members.  Her elderly grandmother was unable to supervise her medication adequately and the rest of her family disowned her. TTF stepped in to find her a stable place to stay- a local orphanage with 24 other children- run by Mother Without Borders. She is supervised to take her medication, well fed and looked after. She gained weight on a special diet and is a now a very active and smiley child who is well loved.