Andrew, HIV+, is at peace at last

By Erick Kabendera

A blind couple, Flora Dea and Noah Ngurungu stood tearlessly in front of their deceased son’s coffin at Chang’ombe cemetery in Dar es Salaam last week.
Their son, Andrew Ngurungu, 16, who was featured in The Citizen on Saturday July 9 this year in a story on children living with HIV, passed away on September 15.
Flora, speaking as if she could see the burial scene said her son had suffered for a long time and thanked God for at last laying him to rest.
Andrew had always been sick but in August this year, his condition became very serious and he was admitted to Oysterbay hospital. His health worsened in late August and he was referred to the Agha Khan hospital where he passed away.
Flora said on the day Andrew died, his uncle had slept at the hospital, taking care of him. “He told me that Andrew died smoothly. He politely asked his uncle where I had gone, but before he could answer, Andrew turned towards the wall from the bed he was sleeping in and died.” Flora said that they have been crying for 14 years, ever since Andrew started suffering, and that there were no more tears to cry.
The baffling circumstances surrounding Andrew’s health were that he was HIV-positive despite the fact that his parents are HIV-negative. Previously, when The Citizen interviewed his parents, they were understandably confused about where Ngurungu got infected with the virus because he had never had sex or a blood transfusion. His mother says Andrew started becoming sick in 1989 but it was only revealed that he was HIV-positive when he was in class seven in 2003 after the family was advised to take him to the hospital for diagnosis.
The news that he was positive was shocking and the decision to cross check the results in other hospitals was made. But unfortunately the results were the same.
Flora assumed that her son was either infected during or after birth. Andrew was only brought to her after five days and she didn’t know who had been breast-feeding him or where he came from. Given these circumstances, says Dea, she was not sure if Andrew was misplaced or exchanged with the child of someone who probably wanted a baby girl that Flora believes she had given birth to.
Such assumptions had led to the decision to take Andrew for DNA testing to confirm he really was theirs, an exercise which was not yet complete when he died.
Andrew will be remembered for his spirit, even when severely hampered by his health. He liked chatting to people, but found it difficult because of the stigma associated with his condition that he often faced.
Like most boys, he liked football and used to watch it at his nearby football ground, but his weak physical health meant he could not play.
Andrew’s ambition was to become a teacher like both his parents. Perhaps indicative of this desire to teach was that one of his main goals was to travel around the country educating people about Aids and telling them that the disease is indiscriminate and just like him, any one can contract it. We hope that at least, his death has that effect on those ignorant and abusive towards the HIV positive.
Rest in peace Andrew.