Monday, October 6, 2008

Dancing with Orphans -- July 2007 Last day

My last day here, I wake up to a grey sky...such a strange thing in Jo'burg! My last few days have been full of so many experiences...too many to put into this space without being late for my plane!

But a few images for you...

Sitting in the home of a family that had lost 6 people to HIV/AIDS within the last 18 months....wanting to cry at the story of one adult not taking ARV's so that she can keep her viral load low enough to continue to get the stipend they give people with HIV. Choosing between food and health...sacrificing health for the sustenance of her family.

Alicia Keyes on a celebrity pit-stop, asked a group of orphaned children, "who is your hero?" As the children around her named Oprah, Usher and others, one teenage girl who had lost both her parents within a year's time turned to another orphaned child and said, "you are my hero...you show me the way to go on!"

And then, last night, at a fundraising dinner for TLC, I danced in a crowd of 20 children. All these little ones had started out as tiny little beings left in doorways, dustbins and public toilets...to end up here on a dance floor...filled with the joy of the music and staying up way too late...all blessed with life and love and enough to eat. It is possible to make their harsh start take a back seat to the possibilities of a wonderful future.

You are part of making that joy and that hope crowd out the sadness and despair. You, too, are dancing with orphans!

See you on the other side of the ocean very soon!

With gratitude for all you do~

Dana

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