Chapter 6
Soul Survivors
“The one thing in the world of value is the soul.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Church let out under the hot African sky in Jinja, Uganda. I sat on a rough-hewn wooden bench, hunched forward so I could hear the soft-spoken voice of Dorcus, an AIDS orphan who lives with elderly grandparents. Eleven years old and in the fifth grade, the only outward indication that Dorcus has AIDS is her wispy hair. She is an intelligent, articulate child that enjoys singing and netball (similar to basketball). Her favorite treat is a cold drink. Science and English are her best subjects, although some days she leaves school early because her energy runs out.
I asked her how she coped when she didn’t feel good and could only watch the other children play. Her innocent brown eyes rose to gaze intently at me. “I pray, and Jesus helps me.” Like it was the most natural thing in the world. At the end of our conversation I asked, “If you could ask anything of the global Church, what would you ask for?” Her soft reply shattered my heart: “I would ask them to pray for my pain to go away.”
Even if an AIDS cure is found tomorrow, orphaned and vulnerable children will be a reality for our lifetime. Almost without exception, children orphaned by AIDS are stigmatized, malnourished, uneducated, and struggle with emotional trauma. Because of this, they are more likely to become HIV-positive themselves (sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than 85 percent of all children under 15 living with the disease).[i]
Every day 1,800 children under 15 get HIV and 1,400 children under age 15 die of AIDS-related illnesses.[ii]
Another shocking fact: less than 10 percent of the children who have been orphaned or made vulnerable by AIDS receive any public support or services.[iii] AIDS does far more than kill the parents. It compounds the suffering of the survivors, the innocent children.
Netsai was orphaned by AIDS. At age 13 she quit school to become the primary caregiver to her four younger siblings, then ages 9, 6, 2, and 1. They cannot afford school fees, and many days they have nothing to eat. All five are underdeveloped from malnutrition.
“We put corn into a sack for Netsai and her little family,” shared Elaine Bumstead, a Canadian Nazarene who oversaw an NCM distribution of corn in Zimbabwe. “We learned that just recently, Netsai was sick but could not afford clinic fees. As I talked with her she coughed and scraped at large sores on her legs. When I questioned others who knew Netsai, I learned she was being sexually abused by men in her village. I was both angry and in tears at the same time. Where is the hope for Netsai?”
Pindile’s parents also died from AIDS. At 17, Pindile was left with five younger siblings to care for. Unlike Netsai, Pindile has the loving attention of the Avondale Nazarene Church in Harare, Zimbabwe. The church pays school fees, purchases uniforms, and gives them a monthly food allowance. Many Sundays the elders of the church counsel Pindile and other children who head households, asking about their ongoing needs. “The book of James reminds us that taking care of orphans is true religion,” shared Pastor Cosmos Mutowa. “Acts of compassion are part of worship.”
The loss of a parent permeates every aspect of a child’s life: physical security, emotional well-being, intellectual development, and overall health. This is especially critical when viewed in light of the 4-14 window, the age bracket when most people decide to follow Christ. Across Africa, churches are stepping up to help these little souls.
For example, in the DRC, Pastor Bugeshi Désiré and Bulengo Nazarene have organized a breeding program of goats and ducks, planted a garden of maize, and started a primary school with 112 students. (The “school” is tarpaulin sheeting to protect from the hot sun and stones for chairs.) Ngoma Nazarene with Pastor Thomas Hajabakiga cares for 300 orphans; 130 are HIV positive. Kagarama Nazarene with Pastor Aaron Gafupi began vocational classes in 2000, teaching hundreds of orphans valuable skills.
ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN (OVC)
The Church of the Nazarene has an incredible OVC ministry in Kisumu, Kenya. It is directed by Samuel Oketch and Daniel Friday, both graduates of Africa Nazarene University (ANU). The brilliance of the program is that it enlists volunteers to find child-headed homes in the communities, then involves local churches to come alongside the children. A beautiful result is that most of the caregivers and orphans “adopted” by local churches eventually become Christians.
The OVC program has organized communities and churches to plant vegetable gardens for children. They encourage church members to donate chicks and NCM helps by putting iron sheets on the coops. Training is given in AIDS, nutrition, business skills (given by Students in Free Enterprise from ANU), and psychosocial needs.
Celine Odhiambo and Eunice Okun are faithful, trained volunteers who feel called to this ministry. Six days a week they serve Nutro-Drink (a porridge with special nutrients) to the children at Brinkman Nazarene Church. Every week they visit homes affected by AIDS, building relationships with the children. I was privileged to go visiting with them one day.
We stopped in to see Rose Achieng’. Rose, 27, has two children: Teddy, 5, and Nellie, 2. Her husband died when Nellie was 4 months old, and Rose is HIV positive. She still feels good and wants to learn how to sew so she can become self-supporting. Rose attends the program’s business training. Teddy and Nellie receive Nutro each day.
At Joyce Ongele’s home I learned that Luo tradition dictates that when the father dies, a home must be destroyed to “rid it of the evil spirits”. Because Joyce is a Christian, she did not destroy her home when her husband died from AIDS, but she worries what will happen to her 11 children when she is gone. Eunice visits weekly, helping Joyce prepare a Memory Box for her children.
We had to wake up Betta Omondi when we visited her. She is further along in the stages of AIDS and tires easily. She has typhoid and an amoeba that was giving her severe diarrhea. When she has the energy, Betta sells potatoes. For every large bag she sells, she is given 3 potatoes. Betta’s sister was visiting, doing the cooking and watching five young kids, including her own toddler and a 6-month-old with measles. Sitting in Betta’s tiny, tiny house with a packed dirt floor, surrounded by stark poverty, disease, and human suffering, I wondered where the hope was.
Betta herself told me. She lives within walking distance of Brinkman Nazarene Church. “I am loved and welcomed there,” she said. “Celine visits me every week, and brings me encouragement and hope.” Betta is working on a Memory Box, although all she owns to put in it is one photo of her husband and her memory journal.
Many of the dying have nothing, not even identification documents. In the past, these were given a stone to hold, which was then given to their child with the assurance, “Your mother held this stone.” Yet NCM wants to give orphans something more. A Kenyan proverb says, “Talking with one another is loving one another”. Memory Journals and Boxes provide an opportunity for parents to “talk” to their children even after they are gone. These expressed hopes and dreams are a lasting legacy of love for the children.
Fanual, 17, dropped out of school to take care of his three younger siblings when his parents died from AIDS. Working day labor when jobs are available, Fanual earns about $1USD per day to support his family. They are receiving help in the form of school fees for 15-year-old brother Wycleff. Fanual says, “When people ask how my brother is able to attend school, we say: ‘God has done something for us’.”
Kenya acquires 1,000 new orphans every week. Estimates are for 50 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa by 2010. (That is more than ALL the children living west of the Mississippi in the United States!) These are children who leave school to care for dying parents, who all too soon face adult responsibilities, who wish for more than anything to have the warm presence of someone who cares.
God longs to do something for these soul survivors – through us.
“Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the orphans, plead the case of the widow.” Isaiah 1:17
[i] UNAIDS and WHO, AIDS Epidemic Update: December, 2004
[ii] Unicef: United for Children, October, 2005
[iii] Unicef: United for Children, October, 2005