A 14 YEAR OLD BOY WITH A NEW LEASE ON LIFE

Deo, age 14, is an HIV-positive orphan in Kampala, Uganda.   He lives with his widowed mother who cares for three other children.  Deo receives treatment at a clinic supported by Children’s AIDS Fund International and his health is very good.  But he was not able to attend school regularly because his mother has no reliable source of income and cannot pay required school fees.

Deo now not only has life-saving medicine but he has been receiving a scholarship for the past three years. This has kept him in school and has given him hope and helped ensure a brighter, healthier future.  Deo wrote this powerful poem we want to share with you.

     Living Just a Little, Laughing Just a Little, Laughing Isn’t Easy

I’m tired of taking medicine!!
My situation is way beyond just how I feel.
Yet I have to be disciplined enough to take medications every day-
even if it is the difference between good and bad, health and sickness, life
and death.
Why should I be any different than most humans I know?
My heart yearns to be free!
You can tell by the look in my eyes that I love life, and don’t want to leave.
People, listen up!
You won’t learn this from a book.
Before you party and drink, AIDS HAS NO CURE!
Take a closer look and you will protect the lives of those whom you love.

Make 2014 the year you commit to help Deo and other HIV impacted children like him.