Human Interest Story

Thailand

The Best $100 Ever Spent Gim (lower right) with other AIDS orphans By Sally Golding The four-year-old was discovered wandering around a hospital in northern Thailand, abandoned by her relatives. It was later discovered that she was HIV positive. For the past 5 years, Gim has lived at the Care Corner Orphanage where I teach three days a week, and where she receives loving care along with a number of other young orphan children, all with AIDS. Sad to say, Gim is now in the last stages of life on this earth. In order to make her remaining weeks comfortable she is in need of oxygen. Like so many other AIDS orphans in this country, nobody knows where Gim's from, as no relatives have ever been traced. She’s without proper paperwork & so is therefore not covered under any Government medical scheme. So any medical help, like the oxygen, has to be supplied by independent sources. On this particular day, an American friend, Allen, had accompanied me to help out & observe our work. Allen was touched by Gim's plight and made a donation of $100 that enabled us to rent an oxygen tank for Gim. Gim now spends 6 hours a day on oxygen but always wants to stop and play on my shift. She struggles to breath properly and has a severe tuberculosis cough but somehow she stays cheerful through it all. Gim knows she will be going to heaven soon but says she’s just thankful that she can remain at the orphanage, the only home she's known, and not at a hospital. This is possible largely thanks to the oxygen tank that Allen provided for her. Allen considers this the best $100 he’s ever spent.

Through the Eyes of a Dog

Today is my birthday I am turning 2 years old and my owner looked at me real excited and said some things in a high pitch voice and I absolutely loved it. My owner walked me to the park and when we got there my neighbor was there and we yelled at each other like always and their were a lot of other dogs there. My owner put some sort of thing on my head that went behind my ears and started singing some jibberish and handed me a box. I looked at her and she smiled at me then opened the box. I looked in and there it was my favorite toy! I had got bored one day and accidentally ripped it apart and had been begging my owner to buy me a new one and promised I wouldn't tear it apart ever again and my owner did! We walked home and I got in my bed and put my toy on the side of my bed and crawled up and went to sleep. I woke up and thought what a weird dream and looked over at my dog and she was crawled up in her bed with her favorite toy under her foot beside her bed....