Twalibu

He is 6 years old. Beautiful and expressive brown eyes. A quick smile. Bright and outgoing. He’s as curious and energetic as any 6 year old at home. He also has HIV. He has lost both parents to HIV/AIDS and is now living with a loving aunt. So far, he’s fairly healthy; just a little cough. He jumps up on my exam table easily and happily undergoes a physical exam. Except for some enlarged lymph nodes, you would never know. He hasn’t developed the listless look of death that the 11 year old down the hall shows. Maybe he will live long enough to see antiretroviral therapy in Tanzania. Maybe not. It’s heartbreaking for us but not for Twalibu. Clutching his new plastic toy from America, he trots out the door hand in hand with his aunt. This is the face of AIDS in Africa.