Keep a Child Alive

Day 15 - Afaafa : A Baby with a New Beginning

Little Afaafa is the youngest child in his family of five. His father passed away due to an HIV-related illness, leaving Afaafa and his siblings in the sole care of their mother. Afaafa’s mother is a day laborer with no family to turn to for help as she struggles to care for her children through extreme poverty. As if these hardships were not enough, 11-month-old Afaafa fell sick with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. Desperate to save his life, Afaafa’s mother decided to seek medical help using her meager wages. When she brought Afaafa to the hospital, he was diagnosed with severe pneumonia, and immediately admitted.

Afaafa was later referred to our Family Care Clinic (FCC) in Mombasa, Kenya. Extremely weak, Afaafa’s condition was critical, and we feared he would not survive. We tested baby Afaafa for HIV, and started doing everything we could to help him get stronger. We ordered nutritional rehabilitation, and put him under the strict care of our doctors to ensure he was treated for any infections while we waited for the HIV test results.

When the results arrived, they showed that Afaafa was HIV-positive. He was immediately started on HIV treatment, and he surprised the entire FCC staff with his rapid daily improvement. After just two weeks, baby Afaafa was well enough to return home.

Two weeks later, Afaafa was brought for his medication refill and routine checkup. He was a completely different child from the one he had been when we first met him! Now, he was vibrant, playful and friendly. Gone was the cranky, weak and fragile baby near death that we had met just eight weeks before.

Today, baby Afaafa is doing very well. His new strength and brilliant smile fills us with inspiration and motivation every time he comes to the clinic for a checkup. Afaafa’s mother is also relieved to see her child’s improved health, and is more determined than ever to work to keep herself and her family well.

Baby Afaafa’s story is another reason 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.

*Name changed to protect anonymity

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