Articles from Tamara's Adoption Mama Blog here:
Today’s guest post was written by Lorilee Lippincott. She is sharing a friends story and in turn has become an advocate for the cause of children dealing with HIV/AIDS. Thank you Lorilee for sharing this story with us today, may God use this story to impact a larger group of people then could ever have been imagined.
I have learned about HIV/AIDS since I was a kid. It seemed like everyone was talking about it back then, I even remember a presentation in church about it. But it always seemed like a distant disease (technically a virus).
I care a lot for the people in Africa who are affected but HIV/AIDS was never part of my world and I didn’t ever think it would be.
To me HIV/AIDS was a big problem, but it was a big problem to people out there or for people living lifestyles that were far different than mine. I could learn about it to pass a test in school, but it wasn’t something that kept me awake at night.
Then I met Lily.
Lily was 7 when we met her last August. She is a smart, beautiful, energetic girl with a strong but gentle personality. Meeting her, and watching her play with her siblings, it would be impossible not to see her as any other kid with hope and dreams for the future.
But Lily didn’t always have people to love her and believe in her.
Lily was abandoned in a train station when she was a baby. Then, she was abandoned again when she was 3 when the family who was taking care of her learned she was HIV positive. Because she was HIV positive, the orphanage wouldn’t take her. Somehow she ended up in a hospital, but the hospital didn’t know what to do and were scared of her HIV so they had her in isolation.
Through a series of events she came to be fostered and now is adopted by Matt and Heather, who now have a clan of 5 kids all together. This is where our lives crossed and we got to learn more about her/them.
I have never known anyone with HIV/AIDS, but through Lily, it became an issue much closer to home. It isn’t just an issue that affects those other people, it affects people I know and have grown to love.
Meeting Lily and her new family, both opened my eyes to an issue I thought I knew about as well as broke down walls of prejudices and fear I didn’t realize I had. HIV/AIDS is a huge issue, but with new medicines it is possible to live a very normal life.
Unfortunately, Lily’s story isn’t that uncommon except for the fact that she is adopted and given a second chance in life. Kids all over the world are affected, and so much of what can make their lives better is the understanding that they have potential and value.
My husband and I work in media and marketing with different humanitarian organizations in Asia who work with children and women issues. We made this short video for Matt and Heather so they could tell their story and advocate for other children like Lily. Listen as they share their story.
Lily’s Story from Sharing Dots on Vimeo.
