Peter, Elizabeth, and Pauline
By Michele Leroux

I noticed them immediately in the clinic waiting area. Peter, aged 15, was sitting with his arms protectively around his 2 younger sisters, Elizabeth, aged 10, and Pauline, aged 8.

As an amateur photographer, I volunteer my time at St. Mary’s Mission Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, taking photos for both Public Relations and teaching purposes.  When I met these three children, I was weighing patients for the nurses in the clinic, letting people get to know me so they’d be more comfortable when I asked if I could take their photograph.

Peter’s medical chart had “Canadian” written across the top of it.  So did Elizabeth’s and Pauline’s. I was puzzled until a nurse ended my confusion by explaining that staff wrote that at the top of children’s charts when they were on antiretroviral (ARV) medication supplied by Pediatric AIDS Canada.

Hundreds of children at St. Mary have “Canadian” written at the top of their charts!

In the weeks that followed, I came to know more about these 3 children and how much they rely on PAC’s assistance.

Peter, who was almost to shy to speak to me, escorts his sisters to the hospital each month to collect their medication and have regular tests done. Their mother has died of AIDS and their father is sick, so much of the care of his sisters falls to him. The girls are eager to have their picture taken and pleased that they are wearing their best dresses, as it is common practice in Kenya for people to dress up when coming to hospital. Peter is trying to quiet them down and move things along as he hopes to get home in time for soccer practice. Elizabeth and Pauline can’t stop giggling.

Each time you make a donation to Pediatric AIDS Canada you are helping children like Peter and his sisters to lead lives filled with hope. Each donation ensures that more medical charts are marked “Canadian” and more innocent lives are spared. 

Michele is a gifted photographer, a valued supporter of PAC, and a dedicated volunteer at St. Mary’s Mission Hospital.

Shadia, Jackson, and Topista

Shadia is 14 years old.  She has a strong, clear voice and a beautiful smile.  Her life to date has been plagued with medical hardship.  Born to HIV+ parents, she is the only one of their four children who also has HIV.  She has suffered from both TB and malaria, two of the most common opportunistic infections (OIs) that prey on HIV+ individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa, where she lives.  Malaria brought with it fevers so high that the resulting seizures left Shadia’s legs paralyzed.  She was unable to walk, sit, or go to school.

Shadia and her parents have been receiving ARVs through PAC since 2004, and both of Shadia’s OIs have been successfully treated.  Since beginning ARV treatment, Shadia’s paralysis has gradually improved. Her overall health is much better and thanks to physiotherapy and crutches Shadia is beginning to walk again.  Her dream is to be able to go back to school.

Jackson and Topista know that their health and the health of their daughter depend on the daily ARVs they receive through PAC.  They asked me to thank the Canadian donors who provide this medicine on their behalf and to encourage them to keep giving.  Their lives and the life of their daughter depend on it.

Shadia and her parents receive ARV treatment through PAC’s partnership with the Pediatric Infectious Disease Clinic, Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda.

Susan

Unlike the overwhelming majority of children who are infected with HIV, Susan did not contract the virus from her parents, who are both negative. Rather, she was infected when the doctor who treated a childhood illness injected her with a contaminated needle.

As she grew older, Susan was constantly ill with severe rashes, vomiting, and diarrhoea.  When her mother took her to be tested for HIV at age 14, Susan knew what she was being tested for and the implications of being found HIV+.

Waiting for her results to come in, Susan felt like she was living in a nightmare.  She was a virgin and her parents were healthy.  How could she have AIDS?  She wanted to become a nursery school teacher, get married, and have babies of her own.  How could these things ever happen if she had AIDS?  Was she going to die?  Susan was very, very afraid and felt utterly alone.

When she found out she had HIV, Susan was shattered.  She felt like she had no hope and no future.  She withdrew from everyone and became very depressed.  She was also deeply ashamed of her status, even though she was an innocent victim of a terrible disease.  She started to prepare herself for death. 

Susan is an only child.  Her diagnosis was a crushing blow to her family.  Her father cried all night when he found out she had HIV.  He wondered what kind of life his little girl could possibly have, if she was lucky enough to keep living.

Hope came in the form of antiretroviral (ARV) medicines from Pediatric AIDS Canada.  Susan began taking ARVs in 2004.  Thanks to the medicines she takes twice a day, her health improved immediately.  However, ARVs are not a cure.  Susan must continue to take them every day for the rest of her life or she will die.

Today, Susan is 18.   When asked how she came to accept her status, her answer is simple: “I felt bad for a time, but life here in Uganda is hard.  You have to stand firm to survive.”  She still dreams of finding a man who will accept her HIV+ status, of getting married, and having 2 children: a boy and a girl.  However, she knows deep down that these dreams are just that – dreams.  The sadness and resignation in her voice is obvious when she say she is “leaving it to God.”

Instead, she is focusing on her dream of going to vocational school and becoming a nursery school teacher.  The price of tuition and transportation is standing in her way.  The total cost for 2 terms would be about $350.  Like almost ¼ of Uganda’s adults, Susan’s parents are unemployed so they will not be able to help her.  Despite overwhelming odds, Susan remains hopeful that she will find a way to make this dream come true.

She is deeply grateful to Pediatric AIDS Canada and all of the Canadians who support PAC’s ARV program.  She knows that without them, she would not be alive today.  She thanks you from the bottom of her heart.

If you would like to help Susan attend vocational school, please contact PAC to make a special donation. 

Virginia and Germain

A young single mom, Virginia is stylish and well spoken.  Like expectant mothers everywhere, when she discovered she was pregnant with her first child, she began to dream big dreams for her future son or daughter.   When she agreed to participate in St Mary's Voluntary Counselling and Testing Program (VCT) during a prenatal visit and discovered that she was HIV positive, she saw those dreams crumble and turn to despair.

St. Mary's staff was quick to tell her about their prevention of mother-to-child-transmission (PMTCT) program and Nevirapine therapy.  Nevirapine is a powerful drug that reduces MTCT rates from almost 50% to about 3% when it is administered to the labouring mother and newborn infant.  The cost for the HIV antibody test and the 2 doses of Nevirapine is about $5 US.

Hopeful for her child's future once more, Virginia agreed to participate in the PMTCT program.  She received Nevirapine during labour and her newborn son, Germain, was given the drug immediately after birth.  Thanks to this simple and inexpensive treatment, Germain is completely free of HIV.

Today, Germain is plump and healthy, with dimpled fingers and big brown eyes that light up when he sees his mother.  The pride in Virginia's voice is obvious as she talks of the foods her son now eats:  mashed banana, pumpkin, and avocado.  She is equally proud of her CD4 count, which remains high, and her own health which remains good.

When Virginia speaks of the future, she is very upbeat.  She disclosed her HIV status to her parents and they have steadfastly stood by her and her son.  To her, Germain's life is a miracle.  He is a link to the ongoing continuity of life that is so important in African cultures.  

Virginia knows that thanks to the Nevirapine therapy they received, her son will have every opportunity to grow up strong and healthy, laugh, play, go to school, work, get married, and have children of his own.  All of the dreams she had for him in the womb can be fulfilled.  Nothing is worth more to her than that knowledge.

From the bottom of her heart, she thanks Pediatric AIDS Canada’s donors for making her dreams come true.

PAC supports PMTCT programs at St. Mary’s Mission Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya so that all moms like Virginia will be able to give their babies a fighting chance.

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