Tabibu Africa, Inc.: Maureens Corner: Legacy of a six year old Kenyan Girl

During Tabibu Africa's maiden humanitarian expedition in July 2013 we offered a medical screening at the Little Giants Primary School in Ruiru Kenya. During this time we met a beautiful 5-year old little girl named Maureen. She came in with her step-mother who explained that Maureen was born with HIV. Her biological mother had contracted the virus prior to Maureen's birth and has since passed on. Maureen was raised since she was a baby by her father and step-mother who was the quintessential loving mother.

Since birth Maureen had been receiving treatment which is offered by the Kenyan government for free but was having horrible reactions from it. The treatment that was given to Maureen had saved her life. Her life would have ended within the first year had it not been for these treatments offered by the government. Our medical team spoke with Maureen's Kenyan Doctors and came up with a great treatment plan. Together we hoped to keep her with us awhile longer. Maureen looked forward to her little sisters turning old enough to join her in school and loved learning to read.

Our Board of Directors then traveled to Kenya November 2013 to check on our projects, school, upcoming ventures, and to check on Maureen. Maureen came right in to greet us and we quickly noticed that she wasn't feeling well. Her health had continued to decline and though she had a fever, pneumonia, thrush, and couldn't eat she still tried to go to school everyday. She said that when she couldn't come to school she missed her friends and teachers terribly. After speaking with Maureen's step-mother and going over her most recent lab work we knew that the end was imminent. Maureen sat on my lap and I gently rocked her while one of our amazing hospice nurses spoke with the school director and Maureen's step-mother, preparing them for the inevitable.

I asked Maureen if she had dreams or if she knew what was happening to her. She told me that she knew she was going and she worried about her mum and sisters. I asked her what she loved most about life and she told me she loved school and her friends. I held in the tears and just held her.

April 9, 2014 I received a call from our in-country Director and the director of the Little Giants School telling me that Maureen had passed on....There are no words to describe the loss. An entire generation is lost because of this horrible virus and more generations are lost every year. This isn't just a disease that effects adults. This disease affects all ages, all genders, all communities, and every living community on this planet.

Tabibu Africa, Inc lead another humanitarian expedition May 2014 and while there we purchased and placed a marker for Maureen. She was placed in such a peaceful place; right by the home she was raised in and played around, underneath an avocado tree. Placing a marker for her was the least we could do because she touched our lives in such a way that keeps us working, keeps up plowing forward, and keeps us active.

Now we are so overjoyed that we've been able to make "Maureen's Reading Corner" at the Little Giants School in Ruiru Kenya. It's a small corner with a reading desk and growing inventory of books where children can go to read, study, and learn. Maureen's friends and little sisters can go to Maureen's Corner anytime and think of her while reading a donated book for free. All because of Maureen's dreams; learning and friends.

Maureen may have been only six years old when she died but she left a forever legacy for her friends and the future students who will learn at the Little Giants School. Maureen left a forever imprint on all of us; another huge reason for us to keep doing what we do.