Mama Caroli
- Part 3 -
Story By Thiyam Ningol, Africa

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Sophi knew something was disturbing him but not connected with his job. He was a master of business and had lots of friends to help him in financial difficulties. It had to be something personal. She had a little hitch that he too might have come to disclose his secrets. She remembered the kind and encouraging words of the counselors in the hospital. She acted like one.

Slowly she noticed his cloudy mood changing, looked at her with hope.

He told her everything.

He had come to discuss about the childrens' future. He requested her to move in his house and help him to take care of his children.

She refused.

They had an open and thorough discussion. She was correct. He was on treatment for HIV/AIDS. As the things were open for discussion, they felt comfortable to discuss, plan for the better of their children. But Sophi still refused to move in his house. Instead she suggested that every Sundays and public holidays the two families should be together.

The following Sunday, when they met, Gerald, Sophi's brother in law suggested that Sophi should work in his company. In that way even if anything would happen to him, at least Sophi would have known about the nature of the business and would be able to continue the business after him. Even though Sophi worked with a travel agent, as a secretary, she knew, she would catch up easily with Gerald's help. She accepted the offer.

The next day, she submitted her resignation from her work with a months's notice.

They started working together. As she expected, within two months time, Sophi had learnt a lot. She took personal interest in the company. With her help, Gerald found out some of the loopholes used by his workers to steal from him. Gerald promoted her from secretary to assistant managing director.

For three solid years they worked together. The tie between the family members were stronger. The children were happier. Sophi's children were 17 yrs and 14years old. Gerald had two children, one boy 14 years and a girl 12 years old.

Gerald had built three houses for himself. He let out one house as a residential building to the expatriates, another one he was using as his office and in the third one they were staying.

It was already 7 years now since Gerald's wife died. He had not thought of getting married again. Sophi knew he was seeing women. But that was not her concern. She talked freely to him about re-infection and the dangers following the re-infection. Gerald sometimes teased her as family doctor.

What Sophi was afraid of, was happening now. She started noticing Gerald loosing weight sooner then expected and he was coughing. He had just started a very important project. He wanted to supervise it himself in every way. So he was neglecting about his health. He was with the workers in the dusty field, in the sun and working 24 hrs eating whatever came in hand.

She could not afford to loose him too. She could not help her husband because she came to know about it too late. She had to act promptly. She forced Gerald to listen to her and took him to the hospital. He was treated for an opportunistic pneumonia.

During his absence, Sophi looked for a young, energetic graduate, paid him well and put him as temporary in charge. He had to report to Sophi everything in detail first and then with Sophi's approval, to give Gerald the technical report. Within one month, Gerald was able to be on his duty again.

They have learnt a lesson together. They cannot go on working 24 hours. Their survival was more important than the profit they would make. They discussed everything in detail and concluded to call his elder brother from the village and stay with them.

Under Sophi's insistence Gerald wrote a "will" making his elder brother as the rightful caretaker of his properties till his son becomes an adult, 18 yrs. of age. His brother agreed to come. The whole family was happy about the arrangement. They were waiting for their arrival.

It is very truly stated that luck strikes rarely but bad luck comes in chain, one after another. The day they were waiting for their brother and wife's arrival, in the 1-PM radio news it was announced that the bus they were traveling in had an accident and it was feared that any survivor would be found. The bus skidded in a sharp turn, overturned and plunged into the deep river 50 meters below the road.

It took two days till all the dead bodies were recovered. Gerald and Sophi collected their brother and wife's body and buried them on the same day.

It was hard to believe but they had to face the realities. Sophi insisted that the children are grown up enough to be told about the truth and their plans.

Reluctantly Gerald agreed. Her children knew about her condition but Gerald had never told his children about their late mother's illness and about his own condition. Sophi was prepared for this moment. Very tactfully she talked to the children about HIV, how do people get it and what happens when people get AIDS. Whatever knowledge she had, she used it in her own way and to make the little children understand it in a familiar way.

The last crucial message came when she talked about the family. They had already lost three people with AIDS and the remaining two adults were also victims of the same disease.

Sophi's daughter and the older two boys understood everything clearly, the youngest one cried because she heard that the adults were sick also. Her cry induced the others also and all of them started crying. Gerald could not watch the situation. He stood up to walk away but Sophi stopped him and told him to stay . That was the moment when the children needed him more than any other time. He did as he was told.

After the children have cried enough, Sophi continued counseling.

She told them that even though they were affected, still their condition were good. They, the children were their inspirations; they made them courageous to look for something positive ahead and assured them that together they would do it. They would manage to make them grow up into adulthood, make them educated and settled. In turn they needed their understandings and cooperation.

She made them to promise that they would keep away from the disease by behaving decently. They had seen and felt the sufferings of their loving parents. They should make a full stop to the disease in their family. She emphasized the children to ask anything about the disease, about them openly.

She asked Gerald to brief the children about the nature of his work, how successful he was and what were the expectations; about the difficulties of running the business. They concluded the session of the day with the promises of being together for a long, long time and everybody to work hard to make it a reality.

After the children were dismissed, Gerald thanked Sophi for relieving his burden. In the evening the whole family went out for a dinner. But Sophi still maintained the condition of staying separately with her children.

Two years passed. Gerald could not make it. Despite the promises he gave to his children and Sophi, he passed away leaving everybody and everything under Sophi's custody. Before he died, he made every decision legalized so that Sophi would not face any problem from the side of his late wife's relatives. Copy of the legal papers were mailed to them prior to his death.

Sophi and his children had to move into the bigger house with the children of Gerald.

She knew that she would not be able to continue running the company. It needed a professional to manage it. After consulting with experts and friends she decided to sell the company while it was still in a good shape. She involved Gerld's son fully in the decision making. Even though he was not physically present, he had the knowledge of all the transactions. He had just started secondary school. It was a long way for him to become an engineer and during all that long period the fate of the company was not predictable without having a professional. He understood it well. Sophi continued encouraging him to establish a better company when his time comes.

The company was sold but not the building. It was leased to the new owner. The money from the company was deposited in each child's name for their insurance in studies.

Sophi continued working with the company for six months till they found new workers and be satisfied that the name of the company continue surviving.

After leaving the job, she joined an NGO dealing with counseling and treating HIV/AIDS.

With her practically acquired experience in counseling and professional managerial skill, she became a very good activist of AIDS. She herself had started on ARVs. She became , a living, admirable icon of HIV/AIDS patients.

Her children had overcome the fear. They all have become, everyone of them doing very well in their studies.

They all gathered together to listen to the opening speech at the International AIDs conferrence to be given by their mother, the icon activist, to be broadcasted live on the National TV.


***** This story attached here is dedicated to Worlds AIDS day, 1st December

Concluded......