Best. Result. Ever!

Our number one goal for every child who comes to us at Village of Hope is to see them reunified with their parents. Often, that result is not always possible. Often, the child ends up with a member of their extended family, an Aunt or a Granny and sometimes we have to feed them into the foster-care system. So, on the rare occasion when we are able to place a child back with their Father or Mother our hearts do a little leap of joy! It is the Best. Result. Ever!

This week we are going to be able to do just that with a little boy who has been in our care for the last 6 months. He was referred to us because his mother had been defaulting on his ARV meds (HIV medication) to the point where he had ended up very poorly and in hospital. He couldn’t even sit up because he was so weak. Now he is a walking, talking little tinker and always entertaining us! He is particularly fond of music and loves to play the guitar with Shannon.

This little boy’s mother is only just 19. She is HIV positive herself but had kept her positive status (and her son’s) a secret because of the fear of how people around her would react. She hadn’t even told her mother. What a huge burden to bear alone! She had a job and her son was cared for by neighbours whilst she was working. She had not realised the serious consequences of defaulting on her son’s medication and because her neighbours were not aware of his status they did not know he needed any medication at all.

Whilst her little boy has been in our care, she has been to regular counselling and even felt confident enough to share her status with her family. It is clear that she really REALLY loves her son and I would go so far to say that I don’t think she would have ever considered defaulting on the meds had she realised how severe the consequences were for her son.

Her family are extremely supportive and the local social worker, along with our wonderful social worker, Emma, have concluded that it is suitable and safe for her to resume full time care of her son. So, over the past few weeks she has been coming to Village of Hope every day to learn how to care for him and administer his medication. It has been so fantastic to see Mother and Son bonding and playing together. They really do love each other and his face lights up whenever he sees her. The House Moms have been observing her closely to make sure she is doing all things necessary to care for her child and he has even been on two visits home to try his new environment out.

On Friday we will be waving goodbye to him (although I am sure we will see his cheeky face out and about in the community), confident that we’ve done our level best for this little one and excited for what lies ahead for him and his mother.

Like I said: Best. Result. Ever!

By Emily