Vusi & Sibongiseni

This past Friday I was busy moving around the Carepoints getting things done, visiting the ladies, checking in on the teachers and the like. I stopped by the Moneni Carepoint and Phindile (the teacher) told me that two of the boys in her pre-school were both chronically ill. Sibongiseni & Vusi both had visible signs of illness. Sibongiseni had snot running down his face and was showing signs of malnutrition. Vusi had a huge infection in his mouth. He was in a lot of pain. I took them to visit Miss Teresa at another Carepoint where she was hosting a clinic. She gave Vusi some antibiotic and she gave Sibongiseni a vitamin supplement and some ORS (a salt mixture used to stop diarrhea). Anyways, these boys are both really sick…I had to go to Ngwane Park Carepoint to check on some children that had stopped coming to the school. Vusi & Sibongiseni had to wait for me for quite some time as I went out in search of the Khoza boys and another little boy. I came back to Vusi crying because he was in so much pain and Sibongiseni kind of wild eyed…just in another world. I began to think and wonder who cares for these boys, who loves them. We try through our Carepoints, specifically our bible clubs & teachers to extend care for the boys but my mind wanders what about when either one of them is facing a crisis…who cares for them, who stands with them? Ben has said it before, maybe we are foolish to think we can care for thousands of children. While we might be foolish, it would be more foolish to just sit by and do nothing. Our role is to help a community & group of Caregivers to take care of children where they might not be able to on their own. We don’t have it figured out but we’re not about to give up. We have taken Vusi to be tested and he is positive. Sibongiseni we’re not sure about, we are trying to take him to the Baylor clinic but we need his mother’s approval and participation. Pray that we don’t let even one child slip through the cracks, pray for our teachers who almost every day come across more children that are chronically sick and probably infected by that scourge called HIV.

Here is a pic of Sibongiseni, looking much better after the simple treatments provided by Miss Teresa. He is the small one who is closest to me.