Very Sad Day

So...a few weeks ago, I was talking to Lucy's daughter about Ruth (the little girl who was HIV+ when we took her to get tested), and she mentioned that Angelina (7 yrs) was positive but then took medication and her next test was negative. This made absolutely no sense to me until I reasoned that she must have had a positive test when she was <18 months old. Babies can have HIV+ test results that are actually just due to their mothers' antibodies and later test negative.

The other day, however, someone again mentioned how Angelina had been positive when she came to Sidai. This was making me nervous, so today I took her to get tested again. Unfortunately, her test was positive. I can't describe how disappointed I felt when I saw the test results. It was terrible when Ruth tested positive, but I was relatively new in Kenya and hadn't had the chance to get to know her well yet. Angelina, on the other hand, is one of my favorites at Sidai. Plus, I had thought she was perfectly healthy. She is hilarious and so full of life. I have no idea how she had a negative test a couple of years ago, and I am so sad and frustrated that she hasn't been on medication. At least we now know, and she started her meds today.

Anyway, sad day for me. On a sidenote - the nurse asked me if the kids shared everything, such as food, toilets, etc. I said yes, like a family. The nurse then told me that the kids with HIV shouldn't be sharing. When I said that you can't get HIV by sharing a toilet, she said "sometimes kids scratch when they use towels, and that could spread the disease." Okay, HIV is not spread like that, but I just told her that the kids don't share towels (ha - they don't even have towels!!). Lucy later was worried about the kids w/ HIV sharing toothbrushes. Now, I've given the kids several lectures about not sharing toothbrushes, and I really don't want Ruth and Angelina sharing w/ the other kids b/c I don't want them exposed to more germs than necessary since they have weaker immune systems. However, this again is not how HIV is spread. It's amazing how despite the fact that 20% of the Kenyan population has HIV/AIDS, people still are completely clueless about the virus (apparently even nurses).

Anyway, I'm heading to Nairobi for the weekend. I need a little break. HAPPY EASTER!!!