Today was a sad day for us at A Little Gesture. We lost Belide. Belide lost his life.
I was at Pilates at the end of a tough week. After a rough start with a visit to the A&E and a bloody head with the little one, the rest of the meeting was focused on work - meetings, power point slides, initiatives, strategy, KPIs. At ALG, all I can think about are the accounts, getting them done, getting Joana trained so I can sometime start wearing my CEO hat. All mundane, all put in perspective the moment I saw the message coming into my watch. Belide died.
I felt that was the one thing I could not add to my day, to my week. So much time spent trying to give each child an opportunity, and now this one is lost forever.
Belide was barely 18 years old and he was part of our HIV day center. He was an orphan. A bright kid, with a touching smile. He feature in our 2015 Xmas Calendar so I can share a bit more about him:
"Always on time at the HIV Day Care Centre, he plays a lot and he’s finally healthy eating his meals with appetite. Belide is also very bright, he’s in the 5th grade during the morning period in SLM. He has a remarkable attendance record and a stellar school behaviour. His grades are 16 and 17 at Maths and Sciences. We are so proud of Belide, he’s the best student at the Centre!"
Today was a sad day and all the team is coping less than well. Belide was a known name to us. We have many children, and I admit I no longer no all the names, but this one was one that we had been following close by, seeing him grow in age but not diminish in willingness and effort.
In ALG, we are always focused on successes, not on failures. We know we are operating in a tough place. We do "lose" a lot of kids along the way - that choose not to study, to have children at young age, to just take to the streets or move to the mines in South Africa. And because we focused on successes, we had focused on Belide for a while. It is hard to see him go.
I leave you with a picture of him, below it says "Day Center HIV - I am Happy". I am grateful we were able to provide him with a place to spend his days, to become healthier, to be more comfortable, to have food and friends. I mourn that he was not able to grow out of it as one always dreams is the case.
I was at Pilates at the end of a tough week. After a rough start with a visit to the A&E and a bloody head with the little one, the rest of the meeting was focused on work - meetings, power point slides, initiatives, strategy, KPIs. At ALG, all I can think about are the accounts, getting them done, getting Joana trained so I can sometime start wearing my CEO hat. All mundane, all put in perspective the moment I saw the message coming into my watch. Belide died.
I felt that was the one thing I could not add to my day, to my week. So much time spent trying to give each child an opportunity, and now this one is lost forever.
Belide was barely 18 years old and he was part of our HIV day center. He was an orphan. A bright kid, with a touching smile. He feature in our 2015 Xmas Calendar so I can share a bit more about him:
"Always on time at the HIV Day Care Centre, he plays a lot and he’s finally healthy eating his meals with appetite. Belide is also very bright, he’s in the 5th grade during the morning period in SLM. He has a remarkable attendance record and a stellar school behaviour. His grades are 16 and 17 at Maths and Sciences. We are so proud of Belide, he’s the best student at the Centre!"
Today was a sad day and all the team is coping less than well. Belide was a known name to us. We have many children, and I admit I no longer no all the names, but this one was one that we had been following close by, seeing him grow in age but not diminish in willingness and effort.
In ALG, we are always focused on successes, not on failures. We know we are operating in a tough place. We do "lose" a lot of kids along the way - that choose not to study, to have children at young age, to just take to the streets or move to the mines in South Africa. And because we focused on successes, we had focused on Belide for a while. It is hard to see him go.
I leave you with a picture of him, below it says "Day Center HIV - I am Happy". I am grateful we were able to provide him with a place to spend his days, to become healthier, to be more comfortable, to have food and friends. I mourn that he was not able to grow out of it as one always dreams is the case.
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