Phathu is a young
11 year old boy born HIV+. His mother was also HIV+ and died before Phathu’s 1st
birthday. He was left in the care of his unemployed, impoverished father. When
money was available, Phathu’s father bought toys rather than the crucial nutritional
food needed to nourish a sick young child. When his father remarried, Phathu
was often left alone and unsupervised for long periods of time. As a way to
make money, Phathu’s father began to circulate allegations that his young son
was practicing witchcraft and he sold these erroneous stories to local newspapers.
vBecause of this harmful exploitation and improper supervision, Phathu’s
elderly, unemployed aunt took Phathu to live with her in a neighboring village.
She struggled to give him adequate food and necessary medication and Phathu was
hospitalized several times with malnutrition, dehydration and breathing issues.
In September 2012
outside sources appealed to VMS to temporarily care for this very ill
youngster. Although VMS is a day school and not an orphanage or medical
facility, Sue-Anne and the VMS staff are specially trained to care for children
who are HIV+. Phathu was placed in the VMS Halfway House, supervised 24/7 and
fed highly nutritious meals. He was closely monitored to ensure that his
medication was taken at the correct times each day. The sores on his head and
face have now healed and he has gained weight. He can frequently be seen
laughing and playing with the younger children who attend school at VMS. Since
his father has now abandoned Phathu, and since the VMS Halfway House is a
temporary way station, VMS has attempted to find permanent housing for this
needy child.
Enter Takalani,
our VMS Outreach Assistant and resident “angel”. Since numerous attempts at
finding a foster home for Phathu have failed, Taki has stepped forward and
agreed to foster Phathu along with her other foster child despite the fact that
her 2 room home has limited space.
Thanks to our
generous HFL donors we were able to wire the money needed for an addition to
her house. Once again, ALL of our HFL supporters have made a HUGE difference in
children’s lives! Thank You!
