WHOA, it is good to be back in Uganda! I have had a blessed and busy past few weeks! I have to share this with you all, it has really rocked my world!
Pictured here is Sidonia Atei. She is a mother living with HIV enrolled in our HIV Vulnerable Groups. I remember her from one of my first days treating patients in Uganda back in 2006. We treated her for many months with no improvement. We then encouraged her to go get tested and found that she was positive. In addtion, a few of her children also tested positive. Last fall she came to me crying and told me that she was pregnant and asked me to perform an abortion for her. She said this baby had to be a curse because first of all she already has a hard time providing for her many other children and secondly she thought the baby would have HIV and die at a young age. She cried and cried as I told her of God's love for both her and this unborn child knit together in her womb. (Let me note that it takes alot for a woman to cry here in Uganda.) So that day she agreed to keep the baby and to trust God. We prayed and she dried her tears and began smiling again. That day my heart was so broken and the entire drive home from the camp I was thinking of ways we could practically show these women that their babies are not a curse but a blessing from the Lord and that He has a plan for each one of them, even if they test HIV positive in the future.
So upon my return, her shining smile was the first thing I saw. She ran to the vehicle and hugged me back and forth many times while doing the wonderful high pitched hollar that all the women do here. She even started praising the Lord and dancing. All the other women joined in. She then handed me her healthy fat baby that had been born early December. I held the baby and we all cried (and the baby blessed me by urinating on me as usual) and praised God. She then told the entire Vulnerable group the story about how I told her to keep the baby etc. What a blessing it was for me that day to be able to give her the first blanket made by the women in America and tell her that women so far away were praying for her and the baby. WHOA!!!! I cry just thinking of it now. God knew how special that day would be! The baby had been wrapped in a dirty towel full of holes. The mother was so proud of her new blanket and her new baby! I was proud too that my God was so big; big enough to plan all of this and big enough to dry the mother's tears and give her a healthy, fat baby. We then all prayed for the baby and asked God to protect it from HIV. Keep praying and keep making blankets for these little ones!!
So upon my return, her shining smile was the first thing I saw. She ran to the vehicle and hugged me back and forth many times while doing the wonderful high pitched hollar that all the women do here. She even started praising the Lord and dancing. All the other women joined in. She then handed me her healthy fat baby that had been born early December. I held the baby and we all cried (and the baby blessed me by urinating on me as usual) and praised God. She then told the entire Vulnerable group the story about how I told her to keep the baby etc. What a blessing it was for me that day to be able to give her the first blanket made by the women in America and tell her that women so far away were praying for her and the baby. WHOA!!!! I cry just thinking of it now. God knew how special that day would be! The baby had been wrapped in a dirty towel full of holes. The mother was so proud of her new blanket and her new baby! I was proud too that my God was so big; big enough to plan all of this and big enough to dry the mother's tears and give her a healthy, fat baby. We then all prayed for the baby and asked God to protect it from HIV. Keep praying and keep making blankets for these little ones!!
MUCH LOVE,
Shau
