I have been reorganizing our office and I found an old notebook that I'd had with me while I was in Nigeria four years ago. I found something I had written about one of the women whose story was shared with me. This woman and her two children were very special to me.
This is what I wrote four years ago;
This is what I wrote four years ago;
You don't know me. You will probably never meet me.
To you I am just a statistic amongst the African AIDS victims.
But I have a story.
And I have a passion.
Both of which I want to share with you.
I married a good man, but he ended up straying from me.
It broke my heart to see him go.
But then he changed, and he came back to me, asked my forgiveness.
So I took him back.
The return of my husband brought me great joy.
We had three children - and then tragedy struck.
First, my oldest child died. He was such a lovely, lively boy.
He was never tested,
But I know in my heart why he died.
Next, my husband died.
We discovered he had AIDS.
His family was furious -
with me!
They blamed me for his death,
Even though I had always been faithful.
They wanted to take my other two children from me -
And so I fled.
I went to a new village, I made new friends,
And I tried to make a new life for myself and the children.
And then I discovered that I have AIDS.
This is my story, and tragic as it may be I know God is in control.
My passion is my children.
I want to live to see them grow up, I want to be able to provide for them.
I want to know if they have this terrible sickness or has God has spared them from it -
But I am too scared to find out.
My story and my passion have been told.
But who cares?
I am just a statistic.
To you I am just a statistic amongst the African AIDS victims.
But I have a story.
And I have a passion.
Both of which I want to share with you.
I married a good man, but he ended up straying from me.
It broke my heart to see him go.
But then he changed, and he came back to me, asked my forgiveness.
So I took him back.
The return of my husband brought me great joy.
We had three children - and then tragedy struck.
First, my oldest child died. He was such a lovely, lively boy.
He was never tested,
But I know in my heart why he died.
Next, my husband died.
We discovered he had AIDS.
His family was furious -
with me!
They blamed me for his death,
Even though I had always been faithful.
They wanted to take my other two children from me -
And so I fled.
I went to a new village, I made new friends,
And I tried to make a new life for myself and the children.
And then I discovered that I have AIDS.
This is my story, and tragic as it may be I know God is in control.
My passion is my children.
I want to live to see them grow up, I want to be able to provide for them.
I want to know if they have this terrible sickness or has God has spared them from it -
But I am too scared to find out.
My story and my passion have been told.
But who cares?
I am just a statistic.
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5 comments:
you write poetry like mum does :D
This is such a sad reality... But we have a God who cares about each and every statistic.
PS I tagged you for a photo tag. See my blog for details. :)
AIDS is gruesome. Each and every sufferer and those who love them are not statistics, they are people. My brother passed away from AIDS in 1994. I was actually working on a blog post about him and I'm glad you posted this. I'm going to finish mine.
I totally agree that they are not statistics. I hope y'all don't think *I* think that.
I can only imagine how lonely and horrible it must be to suffer from AIDS. And to be "labeled", as so many are.
Each and every one is a person. A valuable and loved person. A created-in-God's-image-person.
I can't wait to read yours.
I am sorry about your brother.
How tragic. :(
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