Juma Juma

Juma is one of the boys who lives in the home. We think he is about 7, but he looks more like a 3 year old due to malnutrition and HIV/AIDS. Juma came to The Dream Project this last summer. You might remember that I used his picture in the last newsletter.

Well Juma has been sick for the last few days and he was taken to see a doctor. When I spoke with Julia she was telling me that they were drawing blood from Juma (a boy who is believed to have HIV/AIDS) and the nurse didn’t even use gloves. One of the nationals who works with The Dream Project was holding Juma while they drew blood and the worker and the nurse got blood on their hands and they all just carried on. Not even stopping to wash the blood off. 

Two things stood out to me after Juila shared. The first being the gloves (or lack of), I couldn’t believe that something as simple and cheap as disposable gloves are a luxury. Julia told me that sometimes in the clinics they will try to sanitize the gloves by washing them in hot water.

The second thing being the lack of awareness about HIV/AIDS. On one hand I’m glad that the worker from TDP didn’t freak out about the blood and make Juma feel dirty, but I also fear for that worker. Wondering did he was his hands with hot water and soap, did he have any open cuts on his hands? 

This is such a little story, but for me it has really been eye opening. Please pray for Juma, that his body would heal, but also find comfort that homes ours exist bringing hope and love to those who need it.