Remembering An AIDS Warrior on World AIDS Day
Category Nyumbani
It's easy to despair over the wide swath of victims that AIDS continues to cut down. For me, this week is a poignant reminder to reclaim that fight, because my Uncle, Fr. Angelo D'Agostino, a tireless champion of AIDS orphans, died just a few days ago.
CNN is describing him as an AIDS warrior, and that epitaph could not be truer. Around his wrist, he wore a beaded Masai bracelet. A gift from a warrior tribe that identified him as one of their own, which he wore day and night and was never parted from it.
The story of Fr. Angelo has been recounted in numerous obituaries, but for those who knew him and worked with him can attest that his mission was singular and his spirituality practical. He continued to match the scale of the struggle he faced.
The Nyumbani Orphanage has 100 children, but there are so many more infected children in the massive slums of Kibera who lack any health benefits. His answer was to start the Leo Toto program, which now brings medical care to hundreds of children. When it became obvious that the African community was being decimated, killing parents and leaving behind children and elderly grandparents, he founded a village in Kitui. One thousand acres with an enjoining river bed, this village is to be self-sustaining and to host those families who have lost their primary care-provider. It was Fr. Angelo's hope that Kitui would be successful enough to be copied throughout the continent.
This week, Kitui was officially opened.
I can't think of a better way to remember Fr. Angelo, or the purpose of World AIDS Day, than to continue his campaign to assist those most afflicted by the epidemic.
Friends of Nyumbani
Nyumbani Web Site
It's easy to despair over the wide swath of victims that AIDS continues to cut down. For me, this week is a poignant reminder to reclaim that fight, because my Uncle, Fr. Angelo D'Agostino, a tireless champion of AIDS orphans, died just a few days ago.
CNN is describing him as an AIDS warrior, and that epitaph could not be truer. Around his wrist, he wore a beaded Masai bracelet. A gift from a warrior tribe that identified him as one of their own, which he wore day and night and was never parted from it.
The story of Fr. Angelo has been recounted in numerous obituaries, but for those who knew him and worked with him can attest that his mission was singular and his spirituality practical. He continued to match the scale of the struggle he faced.
The Nyumbani Orphanage has 100 children, but there are so many more infected children in the massive slums of Kibera who lack any health benefits. His answer was to start the Leo Toto program, which now brings medical care to hundreds of children. When it became obvious that the African community was being decimated, killing parents and leaving behind children and elderly grandparents, he founded a village in Kitui. One thousand acres with an enjoining river bed, this village is to be self-sustaining and to host those families who have lost their primary care-provider. It was Fr. Angelo's hope that Kitui would be successful enough to be copied throughout the continent.
This week, Kitui was officially opened.
I can't think of a better way to remember Fr. Angelo, or the purpose of World AIDS Day, than to continue his campaign to assist those most afflicted by the epidemic.
Friends of Nyumbani
Nyumbani Web Site
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