It's Official!

I have adopted!. I know my family and close friends were thinking I would come home with a baby. Well, it's official! I have found 2 boys whom I just adore. Meet Albert and Calvin. Look at me already through the diaper stage. Heck, I am almost through those teen years as well. Thank god….that was tough. :-)

When my 6 year old nephew recently asked me if I could have babies so that he can be friends with them, I am not sure that this is what he had in mind.

Let me tell you a little bit about Calvin. Albert will follow in another blog. I met him on my birthday as we were going to visit a boy on scholarship - Calvin was there to greet us as well. He was "living with Mara". I assumed it was her nephew. He was very charming, well dressed and just so polite to me. And he continued to be every time I saw him. Always so considerate and thoughtful. He seemed so put together, so when I sat down to ask him about his story, I was shocked that he had one with so much pain and tragedy. His mom died when he was 3 months old, his father committed suicide when he was 14, he was left with his abusive step-mother when finally his uncle agreed to pay for his schooling. He failed to pass his senior year MSCE - he said they family was quarreling with him weeks before the exam and he could not focus. His uncle kicked him out and told him to go back to the village. He was so devastated that after all of his hard work, he was in the same place he would be if he never attended school. So in Dec '09, he tried to commit suicide himself the same way his father died. Whoa…pretty intense. The craziest thing is you would have no idea this boy has been through and lost so much. There is nothing about him that can tell you any of this as he is always so kind and thoughtful and "happy".

He has worked his way into my heart and I do not see him leaving.

For those who cannot hear me talking in this, I am just talking about adopting them in my heart. Just to be clear. :-)

In these pictures, Albert is on your left, and Calvin is on your right.

HIV/AIDS Teen Group

I had another amazing day this weekend. On Saturday, we went to Kang'oma Village to start up a Teen Group focused on learning about and educating their peers on HIV/AIDS. Just to give you an idea of how into it these kids are, they had already picked the chairman, vice-chirman, and secretary and all the the dates to meet for the next 8 months before we left after initially talking to them about potentially having this group. We were not able to meet them on the first date they had picked, so they met without us. How adorable? Have you ever heard of teens being so eager to get together to discuss HIV/AIDS. I asked one of the boys what they did at the meeting and he said " we figured out with did not know anything about HIV/AIDS". I did not realize the depth of what he meant until we met the group. Most if not all of the kids in the group have been impacted by HIV/AIDS. They have lost a mother, father, both, or are living with someone who is infected. They have been first hand witnesses to the devastation that this disease can cause a person, a family and an entire community. I think that is why I was so shocked to hear from them that they did not know anything…..what is HIV/AIDS, how do you get did, how do you keep yourself from getting it, can you get married if you are positive, can you get it taking care of someone who is positive, is there anything that can even be done if you find out that you are positive? I was just blown away with how hungry these kids are for information, yet have none. Not to mention a lot of what they do hear, is all hearsay. Amazing. Truly amazing when you can visibly see the impact this disease has had on their community. I was so moved with how big of an impact this could have on them and on their community. Being educated on this disease can have such a big impact on reducing the rate of infection and reducing the death rate. This is the stuff that can make a difference. I feel so lucky to be able to be a part of this.

This is a picture of the Teen Group after we met.