Imagine if this were your life...

You are eight years old with two younger siblings, Cedi aged 6 and Naima aged 3. Two years ago your father died. No one could tell you why. People just hung their heads as if in shame. He became a skeleton in front of your young eyes. He screamed with pain and at other times he seemed as though he has lost his mind. Your mother cried all night when she thought you were asleep. You heard her sobs. She cradled your father in her arms and said “I love you my darling. Go to God and be free of this pain.”

Eventually you noticed that your best friends ran away when you approached them. No one would tell you why but you heard a word whispered, “AIDS”. You were lonely. Your mother tried not to show her pain. Sometimes there was no food on the table and your mother cried. Sometimes you saw your mother beg for money and food. Your own mother, begging!

One day your mother began to look sick, the way your father looked. She held you and told you she loved you and you knew she too would die though it was never discussed. Your mother had a white substance in her mouth and she couldn’t eat. At times she was too ill to even wash you. The neighbors stayed away scared.

One day your mother fell to the floor and never rose again. She wasted away in front of you. It took about a two months. When she was lucid she would lay there screaming, “please help my children”, over and over again. One day she stopped. You could not wake her. Her body grew cold and her face looked scary.

People came and took your mother away in a bag. She never came back. You began to soothe the pain for your brothers and sisters and soon you realized that your mum had died.

At nine years old you had to forage for food like the mother of the family. Things happened that scared you. The children cried every day. Cedi hardly ever speaks. You cried at night so as not to scare them.

One day a man came and gave you money. He was nice and you thanked him for being able to buy food. Soon after that he began to touch you in a way that felt bad. But you needed the food. You wondered, “Where are my parents? How could they leave me this way? What do I do?” One day after months of coming to your house, touching you and hurting you, the man fell sick from the terrible illness your mum and dad had. You were relieved that he couldn’t hurt you any more. Your life had turned into a constant struggle to survive. When you were younger your mum and dad told you about the big house they would one day buy and their dreams of sending you to big school so you could be somebody. Why has the world deserted you? What will happen to us all?

You yearned for the love of your beautiful mummy and the strong hugs of your daddy. You wanted to die and be with them.

Time passed and one day a lady came and said “come with me”. She took your to a hospital and took your blood. She fed you all and gave you love and made you feel good for the first time since your mummy and daddy died. She said someone in America is going to pay for you to get better and provide food for your family. Every month she comes and brings you food and medicines and tells you to take them on time. She brings you clothes and sends you to school. Someone far away in America loves us.

Could that be you?