Dennis has passed away........

This are two pictures of Dennis, made in 2008, the first one was when Dennis came in Amecet, the second when he left Amecet, ten months later.

Dennis was very malnourished and he refused to eat, we had to feed him by NG tube for eight months! We really battled several times for life, he was HIV + and we started him on ARV's, to slow down the HIV virus. I will never forget the time he was so sick, the doctor told me that he would not make it till the next morning. I stayed the whole night with him, not wanting him to die alone and praying and trying to help him, he was on oxygen and on IV drip. He made it till the next morning and many more mornings, untill last week......

Three weeks ago we got a note, brought by a boda man (bicycle taxi), it was from Dennis' mother, he was very sick, we should come to the hospital, Dennis was dying. I went directly, we have had more of those little notes from her before, every time it was not so bad, but you never know.. So I went. It was not very bad, I talked with the nurse, they only needed a canula. So I gave it and left. The next week we discovered that the mother took Dennis out of the hospital, but he was still ill and she took him to another little local clinic. We told her to go back to the hospital. She must have done it, because a week later, we got again a note, that Dennis needed bloodtransfusion and they didn't have a card for it. We went again, there was no need for bloodtransfusion, only for some medicin, which we gave. That last week, she came for medicins to Amecet (I was already in Holland) Simon went with her to see Dennis in the hospital and saw that he was much worse than the week before. The nurse told him that Dennis has gotten cerebral malaria, the malaria had already gone in the brains. He passed away in the hospital.

I am shocked about it, I am angry about it, I am sad about it, I feel confused, after all what we have done for Dennis he just died. Why? And why now? It makes me questioning all what we do in Amecet. But I know that what we have done for Dennis in Jesus´name has eternal value. And that is why we continue with what we do, in Jesus´ name!