Lina.

Just got back from a weekend sleepover at the new Veronica Home. It was a little surreal, as we used to have sleepovers often out at the old children's home 2 years ago, with twice the amount of kids. But the new place felt amazingly homey and welcoming.

The best part, hands down, was getting to hang out with Lina. She was brought to the old children's home near-death last time we were here (old post on her here, back when we thought her name was Linda) and has not only healed completely from malaria, pneumonia, severe dehydration and malnutrition, she is stumping doctors now by testing negative for HIV, when her body was rampant with it just 2 years ago.



I had to take a picture of her leg, which used to have a bacteria-filled hole in it (photo on the older post). She no longer walks with a limp, but remembers her hospital stay very vividly, down to every meal she ate there! She is healthy and happy, and has this wizened old soul feeling about her, maybe because she is only 8 but has been through more than most of us will in our lifetimes.