We want to share with you the story of just one of the children, whose life has been changed thanks to everyone who donated, through CARINGCROWD, to our Nutrition programme. Gladys is 6 years old and was brought to the Tiny Tim & Friends Clinic last year by her grandmother who was concerned with a persistent cough and considerable weight loss. Upon testing it was discovered she was HIV+. Gladys weighed just 12kgs (26lbs) putting her below the 1st percentile on the BMI index and classifying her as considerably underweight.

Thanks to the donations of 34 people through CARINGCROWD, we were able to enroll Gladys into our Nutrition programme. After only one month on the programme Gladys had gained 4kgs (almost 9lbs) and now is considered as a very healthy weight (at the 78th percentile on the BMI index).

We spoke to her Grandmother, Janet, about the impact the food support and nutritional advice is having for her family: 

"I have cared for Gladys for most of her life, as both of her parents have died. I own the family home but we live there with 15 other family members, selling vegetables to make money for food - usually making about 300 kwacha a week to feed the entire family (less than $30). 

I took Gladys to the TTF clinic as I was worried about her weight and after speaking to a woman in the community thought she may be HIV+. The food we have been getting from TTF helps so much. Before we could only feed Gladys at breakfast and in the evening and now she has 3 meals a day and snacks. The food is also helping with her taking her medication which was previously making her sick when she took it without eating. 

We have always tried to make her go to school but since she has become sicker she was missing more and more. Now she has gained weight and is managing on her medication better so is going back to school. 

The nutritional talks are also helping me in thinking about how to care for Gladys and prepare her meals - I have also been sharing this with my daughters and supporting my other grandchildren with this knowledge. 

I am too thankful to this support and I try and encourage the younger mothers in the programme to think about how they are using the food to help their children gain weight and become more healthy like Gladys."

Gladys is just one of the children we are seeing significant changes in due to the nutritional support and education their families are receiving. Without your donations this would not have been possible. So thank you and please watch out for more updates on the children you are helping.
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Sometimes you try your hardest to make a change in a child's life and are unsuccessful - but when you are successful that is definitely worth celebrating and sharing with the world! 

Many of you may remember Everson, a 13 year old child who was brought to us last year suffering with extreme malnutrition, neglect, and a variety of other health issues. His story stuck with the staff at Tiny Tim & Friends due to the fact that when he arrived at our Clinic many of our staff prepared themselves for the worst. We worked hard with our partners at Our Ladies Hospice, to provide him emergency palliative care,  found him a stable safe home at MacDonalds Farm, and have continued to treat him over the past 18 months to make sure he can lead a healthy, productive life. 
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Last week our social work team went to visit him at the Farm, to see how he was doing, and whilst he was showing them his vegetable garden he has been cultivating he said he would like to go back to Our Ladies Hospice, to thank the staff who helped him to recover over a year ago.

This week we went with Everson back to Our Ladies Hospice for an incredibly emotional and rewarding visit. None of this would have been possible if it wasn't for the hard work and dedication of the staff at Our Ladies Hospice; the nurturing environment and safe home he has at MacDonalds Farm; and  all of the TTF donors and supporters who enabled us  to provide 4 months of intensive palliative care and medical treatment at the TTF Clinic. 

So we want to share with you in this celebration and as a picture can say a thousand words - here are just some from our day: 

Thank you to everyone who made this transformation possible - we are eternally grateful for your support and donations - without working in partnership none of this would have been possible!

​THANK YOU! 

Joyce is a new patient at TTF. She is HIV+, weighs only 12kgs (26lbs), has TB and is suffering from an all over body rash. Her symptoms and illnesses are not uncommon for a malnourished HIV+ child. Joyce currently sits below the 5th percentile on the BMI index and her health is a great concern – her CD4 count is 261 - just above a critical level.

Joyce's family situation is complex, her mother has alcohol abuse issues, and upon visiting her family home we discovered here grandmother, Betty, was seriously ill with TB - weighing only 28kgs (61lbs). Due to malnutrition Joyce is always sick and unable to go to school. Her mother never went to school and so is unable to secure regular employment, meaning food is scarce. They are stuck in a cycle of poverty. 

Joyce needs significant medical and social support in order to help her to get healthy and lead a positive life. Tiny Tim & Friends is currently supporting her in the following ways:

• Providing nutritional support to help her gain weight, improve her general health and boost her immune system
• Providing medical assistance through the TTF Clinic to cure her other ilnesses
• Giving her mother adherence counselling and disclosure support so she can help tell Joyce about her HIV status and help Joyce to understand the importance of taking her medication on time
• Helping her Grandmother (who weighed only 28kgs (61lbs) when we met her) to recover from TB and stop passing this to Joyce through emergency palliative care. 
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​Joyce’s story is sadly not that unusual for the children we see at the Tiny Tim & Friends Clinic. Joyce’s mother, Miriam,  got pregnant when she was still a teenager and unfortunately, as she was not on Anti-Retroviral treatment passed HIV onto her newborn daughter.  Miriam’s siblings have passed away leaving her and her younger brother to care for their children and their own Mother, who as mentioned is also incredibly sick.

Tiny Tim & Friends always welcomes ideas from new and existing supporters who come up with innovative ways to support our work . Earlier on this year Mark and James got married in London and after hearing about the work of TTF through a friend decided instead of asking for gifts from their guests they would ask for donations to support our work. 

"We heard about Tiny Tim and Friends through a good friend and instantly recognised what a great organisation they are. We wanted to support them and as they are a small organisation, any donation made would go directly to those who need it and really will make a difference." 

Through the generosity and support of Mark, James and their guests $1,125 was raised for Tiny Tim & Friends programmes. The team at TTF send a huge thank you to Mark and James for allowing us to be a part of their day and celebrations and to all of their guests for the generous donations given. 

For inspiration on how you can support Tiny Tim and Friends visit our fundraising page or contact our fundraising team and have a positive impact on the lives of  HIV+ children in Zambia.