Here is a story I wrote about a trip to Ethiopia in 2010 that I wanted to share:
Samuel Sata was one of many new names and faces that I met during a two week trip to Ethiopia. The first week was spent as part of a conference on HIV/AIDS work done by our CIDA funded program, and included delegates from our projects in Canada, Ethiopia and Niger. There was a lot of great information sharing and idea sharing, but the most impactful thing for me (and I think most of the attendees) was meeting with the beneficiaries and seeing how their lives were being affected by the work we were doing.
We met Samuel at his shop. He was stationed in the middle of a busy market in Sheshemane, manning a shop that was well stocked with food, drinks, oil, and various other common items. We got to meet his son, who was hanging out nearby. We didn’t get to meet his wife, as she was in another corner of the market selling vegetables.
Both Samuel and his wife are HIV positive. Their son is thankfully not positive. Samuel greets us and thanks us for coming, and through an interpreter he begins to share his story.
A few years ago, he was on the street. He was lost, and felt hopeless. He was contemplating suicide. Fortunately, through the advice of a friend, he found himself inside the EKHC church (our partner in Ethiopia). Once there, he found Jesus. He began to turn his life around.
The project the church is implementing with CIDA funds is a comprehensive HIV program. He was able to get tested, and once he realized that he was HIV positive, the church was able to provide him with the necessary medication and nutritional needs to allow him to live productively. They were able to furnish him with a loan to allow him to start his small business.
To me, this was a powerful picture of how the church should be running. EKHC was able to minister not only to his spiritual needs, but to his physical needs as well. They were able to help him see a future, not just in eternity but also for this life as well. I am grateful to be involved in such an encouraging project. And I am humbled to be in the presence of people like Samuel who have overcome so much adversity just to continue with the basics of daily life.
This experience also showed me a couple of the challenges associated with HIV education. First off, I learned that there are different strains of the virus, so two infected people still run the risk of causing each other further damage if they do not protect themselves. I was also reminded of how confusing it is for someone to be told that the result of their test is positive, when the news is anything but positive. I am thankful that we have good follow up counselling in our program to help with this confusion. It seems very likely people elsewhere have misunderstood the news of their test because, in everything else in life, something positive is good.
As I reflect on my time in Ethiopia, I am challenged, but encouraged. The work seems vast and impossible. The disease seems impossible to stop. But I hope and pray that we can continue to do what we can, one life at a time.
