To carry on or to stop for a while ?

January 2009

At last, a couple of days off …
Time to give an update and to write something on my web log … that hasn’t been updated for a long time.
The good intentions to write something at least once a month could not be kept.

Well, I’ll start by wishing each of you all the best for this surprising new year !
Of course I wish you all the very best; it would be very sad if I would wish anyone anything bad :-)

2009 is going to be a special year, a lot is about to happen and I am very curious how everything will run.

I started this year pretty well. I got overloaded with all kinds of things and am happy that again we could lead a lot of children into the right direction.
Also a few critical situations have been solved.

There is one that really stands out enormously … a little boy of 8, undernourished, too small for his age, super active when his body allows it.

A few weeks ago I got the visit of a lady who looks after 8 children in her little house of two rooms.
She came to tell me that the children, living under the custody of their grandfather, came to visit her to celebrate Christmas and New Year with her.
During their stay she heard a lot about how these children were treated by their grandfather.

She expressed her concern and asked me if I could help her to get the children under her custody.
Because of the holiday period it was not possible to act quickly as it takes a whole procedure previous to replacing children.

We agreed that we would contact the social welfare in a week, as soon as they got back from holiday.

The next day I paid a visit and soon discovered that a little help could best be used here.
We gave mattresses, made a plan to deliver bread twice a week ….

During my visit the lady told me that 1 of the little boys was infected and sometimes fainted.
When she pointed out the little boy, I was totally surprised. She said that he was 8 but I saw a little boy of 6 with very thin legs and arms, and eyes that were too big for his fallen little face.
After a superficial, physical examination I established that he had to see a doctor as soon as possible.

I also informed about his status and his CD4 count. The lady did not know. I immediately made an appointment to have his blood examined.

The results were there a few days later, and they were shocking … The immunity system of the little boy was on a very low level. If it would lower even more, he should immediately start with AIDS medicines.
Tears burned in my eyes.
It is so damned unfair. How is it possible that a little child of 8 has to go through this hell !

I pay a visit every day to see how things evolve. The children start to know me and come slowly out of their shy little shells. The children are very suspicious, which is not normal; other children run spontaneously to you or call out your name already from a distance.

These children have a past, a past that made them like they are now: afraid, shy, and attentive.
What happened there at their grandfathers???

A few days ago I got a phone call in panic from the lady around 19.30 in the evening.
"Mr Gunter, he passed out, and now he doesn't wake up..."
The only thing I said was: “I am coming, will be there immediately …”

The little boy reacted to all physical stimuli, but totally not to voices or sounds.
“Let this not be true” I thought.
AIDS is a very unpredictable virus. You never know where it damages the body at the most.
The last thing I want is that the brains are damaged …

Thanks to our extended network I immediately knew whom to contact and within 45 minutes a complete medical team was available.
The little boy was examined and it was decided to bring him to the hospital for further examination.

The little boy is home again, a real reason was not found, a light form of epilepsy is not excluded.
I know now that we will be called more than once. The little boy is not stable. It can happen every moment …
Meanwhile I do enjoy his good moments. He is a real romping boy.
When his body allows him, he runs after the ball like a real sportsman … Great …

Fortunately he does not know what goes on in his little body. Let’s hope we can give him a nice life after all.


With me it goes a bit less at this moment. Took too much on my shoulders and my body is protesting a bit.
I always advise others “Listen to your body”, but laugh it away when it happens to me.

All signals were present, throat pain, head ache, diarrhea, too quick to take offense, few in words, always tired and name it.
And yet continue like a hare who always thinks to arrive too late for a train that never comes …
Yes, one day this has to go wrong …

And so it happened a few days ago. I wanted to get a glass of water at night and suddenly woke up next to the bath tub …
“Strange”, I thought, “I was lying in my bed, wasn’t I?”…

The next days I got house arrest for “at least” three days I was told and they took my phone away.
Every day my car disappears, the gate is locked and here I am …
Fortunately they left me my computer …. So I can still work (hush, don’t tell anyone !!!).

I am prepared to take some distance, but it is so hard, there are so many things to be done. Still so many unfinished cases.
Meetings and events have to be prepared, we should be busy with fund raising, plans have to be made …

Yeah, it helps a bit that I am not working in the field at the moment, but is not really “being out of business”.

But I enjoy all the nice things we do. Let me hope that we can continue it this year.

Big hug for all of you.

Gunter