Aggie

I mentioned awhile ago that a very special girl in Zambia is certainly worthy of her own blog. Her name is Agnes.

She comes from near Siampweze (not sure about that spelling…) her mother had passed away when she was about 5 and nobody could care for her. She was found in the village, terribly neglected and malnourished. Her body was the size only of a three year old and her face looked as though it had lived through long decades. Very much like an old woman. She knew no English when she was brought to Rod and Sue Calder and from what anyone could tell…she cared very little to learn it. She spoke to nobody, wouldn’t smile for anything….and you could see hardness in her eyes.
She stole many hearts as we became involved in her life. She had only to accept and trust their love in return...which understandably took time.

Throughout her first year at the orphanage, she overcome the language barrier slowly and soon the relational ones as well. She learned to trust that the people around loved and cared for her and soon the hardness began to melt away. As her diet improved, her distended tummy shrank and the “old-lady” look from her face became young again. But Aggie always seemed to be sick! We couldn’t seem to get her to stop leaking from any one location…when one would clear the other would start. If ever she fell ill….she would leak from everywhere, all at once!
After several rounds of antibiotics, countless trips to the doctor, and some tests we learned that she was HIV+. Imagine that this little body had lived through neglect, extreme malnutrition, loneliness, many infections and was now to be counted among the millions in sub-Saharan Africa with this terrible virus. And all by the age of six! She began treatment shortly after I returned to Canada in 2003. Each picture that I have seen since that time has shown dramatic improvements to her health. It was also discovered in the months that followed that she would have permanent hearing and seeing problems b/c of the infections that lingered prior to her diagnoses. Treatment has made a world of difference in this life! Her body was finally able to grow and heal itself. She has grown in height, her belly shrunk and she has lived basically a normal life for the past several years. She is now a beautiful young girl who attends a special boarding school in Choma for Seeing/Hearing-Impaired students. She proudly showed us around her campus when we took her back one Sunday. She is always a girl of few words, but the smile on her face said it all…not to mention the sweet hugs she passed around before we left her there.

I love this girl.