Baby Benjelina's story finally hits the the papers.............

[Guest guest]

Thanks to Hez, Janet mk and Mwende Mwinzi.........Ngesa finally did it!

I have Benje's cute Pic holding her teddy bear for those who wish to see her.

R.I.P.

Wams

Nine-year-old girl who died as she waited for medicine Story by Mildred Ngesa Publication Date: 8/22/2006

The story of Benjelina Akoth Ogol should be told and re-told.

In a photograph, which remains the living testimony of her life, nine-year-old Ogol tightly cradles her best friend in the world – a brown teddy bear, which has no name.

By the time she died, sickly and weak, without medical care, Ogol must have agonised over an issue too complicated for her to comprehend. Why didn't the doctors give her medicine so she could feel better?

Her story is the story of more than 150,000 children who suffer from the deadly HIV-Aids virus and have been denied treatment.

Mr Hezekiah Nyaranga, a social worker in Kisumu, says Ogol's story highlights the plight of children who die before they are put on treatment.

Ogol was born on October 9, 1997, in Nyamware South in Kisumu District. Her parents Ogol and Consolata Ogol died in 1997 and 1999 respectively. She was the last born in a family of four and two of her siblings have also died.

Ogol started developing problems in 2003 when rashes and sores started appearing all over her body. Her care givers did not take the matter seriously as it was never thought that her parents had died of Aids.

Baby class

It is widely believed in the village that the parents died of typhoid and malaria. Ogol's rashes were therefore " treated " at a health centre and she was discharged.

Mr Nyaranga, who heads a non-governmental charity organisation – the Reach-out Programme – says Ogol was enrolled at the centre in the baby class.

She was a happy-go-lucky child who loved to play and laugh. She braved various illnesses, falling sick frequently and recovering after sporadic treatments.

It was not until late 2004 that Mr Nyaranga got especially concerned about her health as she got sick more frequently and took longer to recover. Her younger brother had died the same year of Aids-related complications.

It was not easy for Mr Nyaranga to convince Ogol's relatives to get her tested for Aids but they agreed finally.

The next difficult part was to get Ogol tested. Mr Nyaranga says they were not allowed to take her for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services.

After several attempts trying to convince the doctors and the Provincial General Hospital in Nyanza to test her, she was examined in July last year and the results came back positive.

Life was never the same again since the child had to visit the hospital ever more frequently for further investigations.

Money was scarce and there was barely any support forthcoming. Mr Nyaranga recalls a heart-breaking moment when the hospital refused to do more tests on the child for lack of Sh350

.. A Kenyan living in US came to the rescue with a $50 (about Sh3,500) donation.

But the hospital could not perform the required tests, citing lack of equipment. The delay was taking a toll on the child's health.

As Ogol's condition worsened, a CD4 cell count was done and it took the doctors another 10 days to put her on drugs.

But she died while waiting to receive the drugs. She was in class Two at Migingo Primary School.

[Guest guest]

Thanks to Hez, Janet mk and Mwende Mwinzi.........Ngesa finally did it!

I have Benje's cute Pic holding her teddy bear for those who wish to see her.

R.I.P.

Wams

Nine-year-old girl who died as she waited for medicine Story by Mildred Ngesa Publication Date: 8/22/2006

The story of Benjelina Akoth Ogol should be told and re-told.

In a photograph, which remains the living testimony of her life, nine-year-old Ogol tightly cradles her best friend in the world – a brown teddy bear, which has no name.

By the time she died, sickly and weak, without medical care, Ogol must have agonised over an issue too complicated for her to comprehend. Why didn't the doctors give her medicine so she could feel better?

Her story is the story of more than 150,000 children who suffer from the deadly HIV-Aids virus and have been denied treatment.

Mr Hezekiah Nyaranga, a social worker in Kisumu, says Ogol's story highlights the plight of children who die before they are put on treatment.

Ogol was born on October 9, 1997, in Nyamware South in Kisumu District. Her parents Ogol and Consolata Ogol died in 1997 and 1999 respectively. She was the last born in a family of four and two of her siblings have also died.

Ogol started developing problems in 2003 when rashes and sores started appearing all over her body. Her care givers did not take the matter seriously as it was never thought that her parents had died of Aids.

Baby class

It is widely believed in the village that the parents died of typhoid and malaria. Ogol's rashes were therefore " treated " at a health centre and she was discharged.

Mr Nyaranga, who heads a non-governmental charity organisation – the Reach-out Programme – says Ogol was enrolled at the centre in the baby class.

She was a happy-go-lucky child who loved to play and laugh. She braved various illnesses, falling sick frequently and recovering after sporadic treatments.

It was not until late 2004 that Mr Nyaranga got especially concerned about her health as she got sick more frequently and took longer to recover. Her younger brother had died the same year of Aids-related complications.

It was not easy for Mr Nyaranga to convince Ogol's relatives to get her tested for Aids but they agreed finally.

The next difficult part was to get Ogol tested. Mr Nyaranga says they were not allowed to take her for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services.

After several attempts trying to convince the doctors and the Provincial General Hospital in Nyanza to test her, she was examined in July last year and the results came back positive.

Life was never the same again since the child had to visit the hospital ever more frequently for further investigations.

Money was scarce and there was barely any support forthcoming. Mr Nyaranga recalls a heart-breaking moment when the hospital refused to do more tests on the child for lack of Sh350

.. A Kenyan living in US came to the rescue with a $50 (about Sh3,500) donation.

But the hospital could not perform the required tests, citing lack of equipment. The delay was taking a toll on the child's health.

As Ogol's condition worsened, a CD4 cell count was done and it took the doctors another 10 days to put her on drugs.

But she died while waiting to receive the drugs. She was in class Two at Migingo Primary School.