Brandon overheard two little boys at Happiness Home talking to each other the other day... One asked the other "Will we still have to take our medicine when we get to heaven?". "Of course" his friend replied, "We'll always have to take it."
I've been shocked by the amount of misinformation that exists about HIV/AIDS. When we originally started talking about Happiness Home, people were all for helping orphans. They weren't so interested though, in orphans infected with the worlds most taboo disease. Mention HIV and the minds of Americans run to sexual depravity and drug abuse. Not many people consider the children born to infected parents... not many people consider the children infected by needles that were meant to immunize them against things like TB, Chickenpox and Influenza. These children fall between the cracks because of their HIV status. They're not adoptable, they're not well...
It's hard on a parent's heart to see children starving for physical affection. That's happening at Happiness Home. The courageous and selfless people that run Happiness Home stretch themselves unbelievably to meet the needs of the kids. Still, there is no way that three people can adequately care for the emotional well being of 70 children. These kids have been shunned by their community and their families because of the absence of education about the realities of humans living with HIV.
So in my small way I'm here to share some basic facts about HIV/AIDS! Please bear with me! This is an incredibly uncomfortable topic even in todays "anything goes" world... You might learn something and if not you might be able to share this info with someone who has never had any reason to dig a little deeper and learn a little more.
1. HIV is a virus. AIDS is a condition.
AIDS develops when HIV has caused serious damage to the immune system.
2. HIV can only spread in certain body fluids from an infected person.
The HIV virus lives in blood, semen, pre-seminal fluids, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids and breastmilk. The spread of HIV is only possible if these fluids come into contact with a mucous membrane or damaged tissue or are directly injected into the bloodstream. Mucous membranes are found in the rectum, the vagina, the opening of the penis and the mouth.
This means you cannot be infected by touching someone.
https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/education-materials/fact-sheets/20/48/the-basics-of-hiv-prevention
3. HIV Medication
The kids at Happiness Home take an anti-retroviral HIV medication. This keeps them feeling healthy, keeps their appetites normal and bolsters their weakened immune systems. It seems to be common knowledge that there is no cure for AIDS but consistency with the medication can dramatically slow the progress of the disease and lessen secondary side effects and infections.
4. Over 35 Million people are currently living with AIDS or HIV
Which means its a definite possibility that you've come into contact with an infected person and had no idea.
There is so much more to it all than this but these seem to be the biggest questions. I don't want to make this too long and overwhelming so I'll stop here! Please reach out if you have any questions or feel that any of this info is incorrect. Most of this info is from the AIDS Foundation Houston website if it's not then there's a link below the information to where I got it.
It's my biggest wish as a mom to bring physical affection and comfort to these kids. For that reason especially, I can't wait to be there with them. There are kids as young as four there... just babies needing to see what love looks like.
As always thank you so much for sticking with us! We're so incredibly grateful.
XOXO
Miranda
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