We went to delivery our monthly food donation to a family that is in our sponsorship program. The children, aged 12 and 10 are being raised by their grandmother. On the insanely bumpy road to get deep into the bush of Kolongolo, Anne, our social worker, leaned over to me and said, "I hope we have time to see Rachel. I've been thinking about her all morning." I nodded in agreement.
When we reached our destination and got out of our vehicle, Anne looked over at something and gasped. There under a tree to get shelter from the sun was Rachel and her grandmother. We walked over to them and greeted the grandmother and Rachel. Anne and I were immediately concerned about the state that Rachel was in.
She was weak; her eyes sunken in and her body looked like a skeleton with only a layer of skin on it. Anne and I looked at each other with sadness in our eyes; so many similarities to malnutrition and the worst of the worst, AIDS.
I suggested we bring Rachel to the hospital, that way we could test her for HIV and if positive, get her on the necessary medications right away. If it was malnutrition, we could start getting the necessary assistance and dietary needs going.
After making the delivery, we got Rachel back in to town and straight to the hospital. Thank God that the test results came back negative for HIV; however to be on the safe side, they decided to have her blood sent to another hospital for further, extensive testing. It was advised that she see a child specialist...I assume that would be like a pediatrician.
Hopefully, we'll be able to get more information once her tests are back and know the way forward.
So pray for this sweet little girl, please.
Grace & Peace,
Meredith
1 comments:
wow, Meredith - I'll be praying for her. What an emotional ride you're on.. and what an amazing woman of faith you are. You are an encouragement to me.
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