DOB – September 5, 2004

Came under Tumaini care April, 2010

Glory’s story is a difficult one. She lost her father to AIDS in 2009 and her mother (just 32) finally succumbed in May of 2014.  Glory’s older sister, Angela, is negative but Glory is positive and already onto her second tier of antiretroviral medication to suppress her HIV status from blowing up into AIDS.  The situation was grave for this family when we met in early 2010. . . we had to catch up their rent arrears (on a one room, mud hut near Arusha, at a rent of about $6.50 monthly) just to allow them to come!  Mom and Glory, both HIV+, were sick and needed immediate care and good, nutritious food which is the other half of the equation when fighting this disease.

We initially gave Mom a job at Tumaini, helping with the care of the children, enrolled Angela into a good English Medium School (Haradali), and Glory joined our little ones at Tumaini’s school,  but as so often happens with HIV, both mom and Glory failed to “adhere” to the protocols for their meds and both went into “failure”, a critically serious situation where the virus mutates and is no longer recognized as HIV by the medication.  A lack of adherence is what eventually killed Mama Glory.

In Tanzania there are only two levels of HIV treatment combinations and Glory, at such a young age, is already onto her second tier.  Exact adherence to her meds and good nutrition should allow her a “normal” life expectancy but we must provide what she needs . . . eggs, milk, vegetables, a clean and safe environment and proactive medical care, along with her medications .