Tendai's Story
A cultural gesture that was supposed to help Tendai and her Mum quickly turned into a nightmare after moving in with her uncle. What, Tendai and her Mum didn't know is that her uncle was HIV positive, in fact he had full blown AIDS.
Let me start from the beginning. During the time I was inquiring from God what my life purpose was, He had impressed upon my spirit to put away 10% of what I was making at the time (+/-$35,000/yr). I obeyed not knowing what it was for. About 8 months into my journey, I was having a conversation on the phone with my brother, Russel. Even though Russel was a reserved, he was always jovial in his conversations with me. But on this particular day he seemed a bit low. So, upon inquiring why his countenance seemed down, he told me about Tendai. Below is his narration:
Tendai is in secondary school and is an incredibly intelligent young girl. Unfortunately, even though she maintained being on the Dean's list, she had been expelled from school that same day due to nonpayment of school fees, a norm in Zimbabwe and a backhanded incentive to force parents to pay fees. When I asked what the big deal was considering that is exactly what happened to us and many other school kids growing up. He proceeded to tell me how such an intelligent girl should have adequate support because she had maintained her high grades even though she had missed school 50% of the time due to nonpayment of fees as well as her illness. How much did she owe? I inquired. Russel didn't know. He zoned out since he knew he had no financial capacity to assist but it was really bothering him. I was curious so he directed me to the Headmaster who I called the next day. I was informed how much she owed, apparently she had not paid school fees in a while, about a year.
I went to the bank that morning and lo and behold, the same amount she owed is the same amount that the Lord had impressed upon me to put aside...to the penny! I still get teary-eyed when I think about it. Needless, to say, I paid off her debt and made an agreement with the Headmaster that I will be paying Tendai' school fees from that point on and that I may be late at times but asked that he does not expel her anymore.
I reached to my brother informing him what I had done and we cried together on the phone...tears of joy and the incredible hand of God. I then asked him to inquire what her illness was that kept her away from school. He found out that she was HIV positive. I was curious how, at 14 years old, she had contracted HIV. Upon making inquiries Russel told me a story that will forever change my life. He said that her uncle, who had taken her and her mother in, had raped her after after hearing about a myth in which men who are HVI positive believed that if they had sex with a virgin, they get cured of HIV/AIDS. This was even more heartbreaking when, after instructing my brother to do research if this was only unique to this family, Russel found out that it was actually common, This was August 2008 and by December, I had 40 girls in same situations and predominantly in the rural areas where information about HIV/AIDS was not readily available. This was the beginning of Dangwa Initiative Trust in Zimbabwe and our campaign, Virgins do not /cure AIDS.
*Picture not Tendai. Unfortunately I never got a chance to take her photo or meet her, she passed away a year later.