Maude has AIDS, passed down from her parents who died when she was very young, leaving her an orphan. Under the care of Nurse Beauty at the HCOC clinic, Maude's disease had been very much under control for several years. But in July of 2016, her condition had worsened dramatically.
Apparently Maude's caretaker, her ailing grandmother, had turned to a "local healer" who took Maude off of her AIDS medication and forbade further medical care. She had reached such a desperate condition that the grandmother allowed Nurse Beauty to place her on an IV for life-giving fluids, but still refused to let Maude be taken to the hospital.
Two days later, a ZMP representative who happened to be in-country at the time, accompanied Nurse Beauty, and Albert Mukondwa, ceo of HCOC, on a visit to the rondoval where Maude lay dying. Here is her account.
"It's an experience that there are no words to adequately describe; it was so deeply emotional. Maude was in so much pain. Unable to eat or drink anything for days, she was literally skin and bones. She was wailing as she lay on a mat on the dirt floor in the fetal position. In what seemed like an involuntary reaction, I simply laid with her, held her, and prayed. 'Dee-aunna,' Maude cried, 'why has God left me?' In the background I could hear Albert and Beauty pleading for permission to take Maude to the hospital, as she continued to cry and beg for help.
"Gogo, the grandmother, did not relent that night, and the team left without Maude. But, miraculously, the next morning Gogo had a change of heart. God had intervened, our prayers had been answered, and our desperate journey to the hospital was underway.
"Maude was in the back of the truck wrapped in a blanket and clutched tightly in Gogo's arms. We traveled for over an hour on bumpy dirt roads just to get to a doctor who could arrange for admittance to the local hospital. From there we had to pick up medicine prescribed by the doctor before going on to the hospital over still more bumpy roads.
"Finally, after dark, we arrived at the hospital. Maude would be sleeping on the floor in the women's ward that night, as there were no beds left. We left the hospital hoping and praying she would get the help she needed and relief from her pain. And that was the last I saw of her before having to head back to my home in Colorado.
"Fast forward to August 29 when I received this message from Nurse Beauty, 'Can you believe Maude is now regularly coming to HCOC? She is rapidly improving though more flesh should be added to the bones. Praise God!!!!'"
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