Imagine this- the temperature is in the upper 90’s, plus humidity, you’re sweating profously, you’re walking in ankle deep sand, the kind of sand that rips your flip-flops off of your feet because you sink in so deep, there are no trees for shade, everyone you pass in little shacks stare at you because you are the first white person to go there, or maybe it is because you are walking with someone who visibly has AIDS.
This walk goes on for an hour.
This was my visit to Adelaide’s house.
I met Adelaide months ago in the Machava Hospital’s Women’s Tuberculosis Ward. I used to go there once a week to visit the sick women. I would bring them bananas & juice, sit on the beds with them, sing over them, and give them drinks of water. We would also read the bible and talk about how it applies to our daily lives. Over time, Adelaide and I became good friends.
I remember one week, I arrived late, in the middle of their group tea time. Adeliade was not there. My heart dropped, I thought my friend had died. Then I heard this weak faint voice calling out, “Alise...” (my name in portuguese). She had been calling me from a different bed in another room. She was too sick to even get up and walk to the group table for tea. I was so relieved- she was alive. But none the less, extremely sick.
All of the women in this ward are quaranteened because they have Tuberculosis. TB is a nasty cough that makes you loose weight, suffer severe lung pain, and cough up brown & bloody flemn. Almost all of these women are HIV+ as well. It is safe to say that almost all of these women in this ward will die because of TB within that next month, maybe week, sometimes days
It was almost right after that, on one of my visits, I couldn’t find her again. This time, the nurses told me that they sent her home to die. I was devestated. I had no way of getting ahold of her. I didnt even know her last name. I asked one of the doctors to help me. He said to come back the next saturday and he would help me look through the archives for her name and a contact phone number. I showed up the next saturday, he didn’t.
I began to pray and ask the Lord to prolong her days. I even asked him to do a miracle and let us get in contact again.
2 months later, I got a call from an unknown number – it was Adelaide! She had written my phone number in the Bible I had given her and one day, she came across it. I told her that I had been looking for a way to get a hold of her. I told her that I had been praying God would do a miracle and cause us to get in contact again. I also told her I had been asking the Lord to prolong her days. She asked me to pray for her. She said that since I had started praying for her, she could tell that my God was giving her strength.
Praise the Lord!! She is still alive! So this past monday I went and visited her! From the main road, we walked an hour in ankle-deep sand to her little grass shack. She told me that when she got sick, started loosing weight, and lost all of her strength her mom would carry her on her back on this same dirt road to the main road to catch a bus to go to the hosptail. I couldn’t believe it....
I could tell she had gotten up early to clean that little one room house in preparation for my arrival! Inside the house was a small plastic table, 2 chairs, an empty vaseline jar, some pots in a corner, her jug for carrying water, an empty radio box, and the Bible I gave her. She made sure I was comfortable and then went on to prepare eggs, a salad and tea for me. Of course, by this time, there were neighbor ladies at the door asking if they could come in and hear the white girl speak. As I ate my eggs and drank my tea, they asked me questions. Was I rich like Jennifer Lopez? Did I have a boyfriend? How many siblings did I have? Was my hair naturally 2 colors? Do I have a job for them? Was America as beautiful as everyone says? They then went back to their straw houses to make lunch for their husbands. Adelaide and I talked for a few hours – just about life. She went onto tell me that she has just found out she was HIV+ when she was admitted into the Machava Hospital for TB treatment. She was shocked when she got the results. She did not tell anyone. Besides, if anyone knew, she was scared they would stop being her friends, or visiting her. She is aware of the ostrocizing towards HIV+ people, she has seen it happen to others in her village. She thinks her boyfriend gave it to her- but she never asked him if he has it. Whats the use? She is HIV+, and even if she blamed her boyfriend- it wont take away the fact she has it. I encouraged her to get on treatment- it would prolong her life, it would give her strength to do normal day-to-day things. She told me she didnt know where or how to get treatment. I explained to her the basics of the Anti-Retrovirals (the AIDS medicine) and the pro’s of it. I then went on to tell her that I still love her and think she is beautiful. I told her that the Lord considers her lovely and that He died for her that she might have Hope and Life.
It was then time for me to head home. After saying goodbye to everyone in the village, eating more food, taking pictures, holding people’s babies, we headed down the sand road again, Arm-in-Arm. Please pray for Adelaide, her heart, her health, and that she would start treatment.
(pictures- me and Adelaide (the skinny one with the red and black capullana and the wrap on her head. the other girls are her neighbors/friends)
