Cindy and Thembilihle

This is the story of Cindy, a young, courageous girl who has faced extraordinary loss and unimaginable challenges, yet still has hope for her future and that of her daughter, Thembilihle, meaning “beautiful hope”.

Cindy’s mother died of AIDS when she was just 12 and her father died just one month after Thembilihle was born.

Cindy, at age 15, is barely more than a child herself.  And yet, like so many victims of the AIDS pandemic, she is an orphan who cares for herself, her 11 year old sister and her newborn baby. Cindy’s mother died of AIDS when she was just 12 and her father died just one month after Thembilihle was born. Less than a month later, Cindy buried her grandmother--her last remaining adult family member.

This string of loss is only the beginning to the personal crises Cindy would soon face. Just 6 months before her father’s death and following a bout of persistent vomiting, Cindy went to her local clinic and tested positive for HIV. Demonstrating her courage, she recalls how she felt upon learning the news.  “I first got a counselor. I knew there were a lot of people in my mother’s home that were HIV positive and I loved them very much, so I was not afraid.”

Less than two months later, Cindy discovered that she was also five months pregnant. The 21 year old man she had slept with was aware of his HIV status, but never revealed it to Cindy.  

Cindy shared how she felt when she learned of her pregnancy. “I cried a lot. I was scared of my father. He always said that I must go away if I get pregnant.” When her father found out that she was pregnant he angrily took out a gun and threatened Cindy. The police were called in to restore peace in the home. Despite difficulties with their relationship, Cindy is burdened by a sense of guilt that she let her father down.  “When someone asks how I got pregnant I just think of my father and cry, because I disappointed him by getting pregnant.” She adds, “ I think that maybe he died from the stress of me.”

Cindy has received invaluable support from her social worker, who brought her to McCord Hospital. There, thanks to the generosity of American donors and the Gift of Hope fund, Cindy was initiated on ARVs and enrolled in the Prevent Mother to Child Transmission Program (PMTCT). When I asked Cindy what this funding has meant to her, she replied, “It means so much. I just think of my mother if she was here. She would be thanking you now.”

Thanks to the quality care she has received at McCord, Cindy is in excellent health.

Thanks to the quality care she has received at McCord, Cindy is in excellent health. She is getting regular follow up care for herself and her daughter at McCord’s Mamanengane (mother and baby) Clinic, as well as provision of baby formula, thanks to ongoing financial support from donors.

Faced with enormous responsibilities, this courageous girl is now approaching her future with hope and optimism.  Just a few weeks after sharing her story, Cindy returned to McCord to receive the news that everyone has anxiously awaited: her daughter, Thembilihle, is HIV negative!  The meaning of her baby’s name is simply perfect! As the social worker says so eloquently, beautiful hope “is a beautiful and prophetic name, which will speak into Cindy’s life.”

Cindy has a long and difficult road in front of her with many challenges, but she says she is not worried. Cindy and Thembilihle are moving forward with the power of hope—a hope which shines as brightly as the beautiful smile on Cindy’s face.