On Thursday we awoke early to begin the long drive to Nanyuki. Although the distance between Nakuru and Nanyuki is not too great the journey took the best part of 5 hours, as some sections of road are more akin to a cluster of interlinked craters and potholes rather than an actual road. The suspension at the back of our minibus is ropey to say the least, and by the end of the journey all of us we severely in need of some fresh air and a chance to stretch our legs.
This afternoon we ran a quick session at a local orphanage. Having done our part to talk to student teachers about AIDS prevention this was the opposite side of the equation, all the children at the orphanage had already contracted HIV, mostly it has been passed on directly from their mother in the womb.
The experience was extremely hard for me – it is absolutely heart-breaking to see these beautiful young children, full of smiles and laughter, and to know that none of them will live to a normal age. At the end of the session the teacher showed us around the orphanage. In one room was a set of individual drawers, labelled with names of each child and containing a selection of anti-viral pills that help to ensure the children are strong enough to fight the virus. Many of the sticky labels were covering two or three previous labels that went before them – an incredibly sombre thought.
My mental image of HIV positive children was of sickly bed-ridden children. Infact, although all were very skinny (like most Kenyans) they were full of youthful exuberance and energy. In between playing cricket many would do somersaults and back-flips to demonstrate their athleticism. After two hours playing cricket in the sun it was the coaches that were flagging most, not the children. The HIV virus remains dormant, often for years, until inevitably the AIDS stage when the victim begins to deteriorate very quickly. This is why many people in Africa, and indeed the world, aren’t aware that they are HIV positive and this is partly the reason why the disease has spread so dramatically.
The orphanage had been set up by an Italian religious charity. Following the visit our group discussed some of the implications of this. My feeling is although it is brilliant that the money raised can pay for the drugs that will dramatically extend and improve the quality of these children’s lives, I couldn’t prevent myself shivering involuntarily when I seeing typically Catholic images of Jesus on the cross on display around the orphanage. This reminded me of how religion should be taking the lead in passing on the contraception message, but instead many religious schools in Africa have banned the use of ‘Condom’ in the ABC message.
Visiting the orphanage I was awe-struck by was the dedication of the staff working there. Purity, one of the local Kenyan staff gave us a tour of the facilities. She works 6 days a week in the orphanage, caring for the children every hour they are not at school. The love and attention that Purity and her fellow staff show to the orphans is incredible, I can’t begin to imagine how harrowing their job must be. It was satisfying for me and the fellow coaches to come in for one afternoon and to spread smiles and laughter. But the staff are here every day, dealing with the issues caused by this terrible disease, it is an incredibly tough and unglamorous job and they are all heroes for doing what they do. Purity mentioned that they only receive the most ‘desperate’ cases. She also said the number of children referred to them was increasing year on year, suggesting that in the Nanyuki area at least that HIV infection rates are still increasing.
This was a day I will never forget.
Gareth