Keep a Child Alive

Day 11- Noah: Three Years Later

In 2008, Leigh Blake, Founder & President of Keep a Child Alive traveled to Kigali, Rwanda to the Icyuzuzo Clinic (now the Centreville Clinic) supported by KCA.  There she met Noah, a young teenage boy with a dream to perform his music for the world. KCA made this dream come true when Noah joined KCA Co-Founder Alicia Keys on American Idol for a life-changing performance.
 
He returned to Rwanda, bringing hope to a place where it is desperately needed, especially among youth his age living with HIV/AIDS. For teenagers in Rwanda, who were infants during the time of the genocide, much of their childhood was lost in the years of re-building the country. For many like Noah, the scars of the genocide continue to permeate every element of their lives.
 
Noah aspires to be a role model for the Rwandan youth who like him are still faced with fierce stigma and discrimination. Being a teenager anywhere in the world is hard enough, and living with HIV only complicates an already confusing time. Every time you start something new, you’re presented with an opportunity to re-invent yourself. But for teenagers living with HIV, the consequences of pretending you don’t have it, can be deadly. Many struggle after years on treatment to stay on their medication.
 
Noah loves his family, but he soon realized that the best way he can help his family is by helping himself.  The pressures for Noah living in a home without the support he needs as a young person living with HIV were overwhelming, and his health was being compromised.
 
With KCA’s support, he decided to attend a boarding school several hours outside of Kigali, where he is excelling academically and has made many new friends.  Although he still faces challenges to his health, he has the support he needs at school, including a house matron who looks after him and the other children, as well as the support of the team at the Centreville Clinic.
 
Today, Noah still dreams of being a musician, but knows that he has to stay alive, healthy and in school to achieve what he wants in life.  This is why we do what we do at Keep a Child Alive.  Text BUYLIFE to 90999 to give $10 to help us continue these daily inspirational stories of hope, love and strength.

See all of our Daily Inspirations.