We met Juniour on Wednesday, Mar 18th. We visited his home with the care giver named, Joyce. Juniour is 10 yrs old, but looks 6 yrs old because of illness and malnutrition which stunts his growth. Juniour is orphaned (both of his parents have died from AIDS, his dad a while back around birth and his mother died of AIDS in 2004), and lives with his mothers parents (grandparents). Juniour has full blown AIDS and gets sick often, so he is only in 2nd Grade. Let me remind you, 10
yrs old and in 2nd grade!! You do the math. He spent 2 yrs in and out of the hospital and not in school. Mike and I quickly became touched by Juniour as we sat around in a circle to discuss the situation. Now imagine a group of adults (8 total) and Juniour sitting in a circle discussing his situation: 10 yrs old, has AIDS, been very sick and in hospital, mother died in 2004 and dad before that, orphaned and living with grandparents. All of this was being said in English but then also in Tanga, of which Juniour perfectly understa
nds. I kept thinking to myself, what must this 10 yr old boy be thinking about this: who are these white guys, what do they want and why are we telling them my story… will they help me, will they take this disease away from me, will they “bless” my family, will they “take” something, what can I possibly give them, I miss my mother, do they have mothers and kids, what would it be like to have them as my dad. I could go on and 
on, and this I could not get out of my mind that night, as I woke up around 2:30am thinking about this day. Mike then got up after talking some time and told Juniour that we had a gift for him, going into his backpack and pulling out a soccer ball! I was looking at Juniour’s face when Mike did this and as soon as Juniour saw the ball, he smiled from ear to ear and yelled, “ball, ball!!” It was truly an amazing sight for a $6 soccer ball, one that I will not forget. All of Juniour’s friends (about 12 and growing by the minute) were standing 10 yards away taking everything in that was going on. Imagine the perception of AIDS now, Juniour is being visited by white people (mzungu = rich white people) and being presented gifts. AIDS does not look like it did 10 yrs ago now. After the soccer ball came handing out fruit snacks to all of the kids in the village area, they were very hesitant at first, but Mike and I would open a pack and eat them, so they then were very 
interested. This is also a precious sight to get on your knees and hand something of little value to us and light up their world. It is truly awe inspiring, and I would recommend this to anyone. We then went down and visited their garden, of which they have awesome gardens where they grow what they eat. So bad harvest, no food… can you even imagine that. NO WE CAN NOT. Needless to say that Juniour will be in Mike and my hearts for some time, and the Priest family also got to select Juniour as a sponsored child through World Vision right there on the spot. Cool stuff.
yrs old and in 2nd grade!! You do the math. He spent 2 yrs in and out of the hospital and not in school. Mike and I quickly became touched by Juniour as we sat around in a circle to discuss the situation. Now imagine a group of adults (8 total) and Juniour sitting in a circle discussing his situation: 10 yrs old, has AIDS, been very sick and in hospital, mother died in 2004 and dad before that, orphaned and living with grandparents. All of this was being said in English but then also in Tanga, of which Juniour perfectly understa
nds. I kept thinking to myself, what must this 10 yr old boy be thinking about this: who are these white guys, what do they want and why are we telling them my story… will they help me, will they take this disease away from me, will they “bless” my family, will they “take” something, what can I possibly give them, I miss my mother, do they have mothers and kids, what would it be like to have them as my dad. I could go on and 
on, and this I could not get out of my mind that night, as I woke up around 2:30am thinking about this day. Mike then got up after talking some time and told Juniour that we had a gift for him, going into his backpack and pulling out a soccer ball! I was looking at Juniour’s face when Mike did this and as soon as Juniour saw the ball, he smiled from ear to ear and yelled, “ball, ball!!” It was truly an amazing sight for a $6 soccer ball, one that I will not forget. All of Juniour’s friends (about 12 and growing by the minute) were standing 10 yards away taking everything in that was going on. Imagine the perception of AIDS now, Juniour is being visited by white people (mzungu = rich white people) and being presented gifts. AIDS does not look like it did 10 yrs ago now. After the soccer ball came handing out fruit snacks to all of the kids in the village area, they were very hesitant at first, but Mike and I would open a pack and eat them, so they then were very 
interested. This is also a precious sight to get on your knees and hand something of little value to us and light up their world. It is truly awe inspiring, and I would recommend this to anyone. We then went down and visited their garden, of which they have awesome gardens where they grow what they eat. So bad harvest, no food… can you even imagine that. NO WE CAN NOT. Needless to say that Juniour will be in Mike and my hearts for some time, and the Priest family also got to select Juniour as a sponsored child through World Vision right there on the spot. Cool stuff.
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