This is a story about Gugu

We just celebrated Gugu’s (GooGoo) fourth birthday! All the volunteers are here, and we sang happy birthday to her in many different languages. She has the biggest smile on her face, and she is laughing. Even after a long, tiring day at the haven, the second we get home and see Gugu she reenergizes us. Her never-ending cheerfulness, laughs, and hugs never get old! In all my time here, I can’t remember a single time she was unhappy or crying, except that one time she closed the door on her hand.

I don’t even know Gugu’s mothers name- I never met her. She died several years ago from AIDS. And during Gugu’s birth, she transmitted HIV to her beautiful little girl. Now Gugu will have to live- and die- by this tragic occurrence that happens all too often here in Africa.

Even though she’s four now, she still looks like she is less than two years old. Only her maturity and her intelligence make her seem older. She speaks Zulu, as all the kids at the haven do. It’s their mother tongue, and they don’t learn English until they start school. But I always hear Gugu singing in English around the house- she sings “Irreplaceable” by Beyonce like a champ. It is one of the volunteer’s favorite songs, and the girls are constantly singing it. And Gugu picked it up, even though she never heard the Beyonce version.

We started teaching her the body parts in English, and she’s a quick learner. We’ll ask her “Gugu, where is your mouth” and she immediately points to it. We taught her the song “Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes” and she can do it all on her own now.

But HIV is taking its toll on Gugu. She never wants to eat, and we have to force her to take even a few bites of supper. To finish her entire bowl takes several hours. It reminds me of when I was a kid, and sat there for several hours every night, refusing to eat dinner. But this was because I was picky and stubborn, and not because of some disease- and my life didn’t depend on it.

She also never wants to take her daily medicines. What kid would be excited to do that? Remember when your mother tried to give you cough syrup? Gross! But of course her wellbeing depends on it. Her adoptive mother stormed out just the other night because Gugu wouldn’t take her medicine. She yelled “fine, it’s your life” and she left.

Gugu also has extremely short hair, one of the effects of HIV. Sometimes she has extensions put in, but for a kid they are irresistible to play with and they slowly get pulled out one by one.

With or without hair, and with or without HIV, she’s as good of a diva as Beyonce. I will remember her smile forever, and I will never forget the Gugu version of Irreplaceable. “You must not know about me, you must not know about me…”