Besta is a bright 10 year old orphan who lives in a small village on the rural outskirts of Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe. His parents both died of HIV-Aids related illnesses and he now lives now with his aged grandparents - an extraordinary circumstance given the average lifespan for a Malawian adult is 40. When I met Besta, he was dressed in a tattered pair of shorts and a dirty shirt that was too big for him. I asked him why his front shirt pocket was wriggling and he opened it for me to see a dozen large winged black ants that he had caught to eat with his evening meal.
I asked Besta what he needed, to which he shyly requested a blanket because the evenings were becoming quite cold. Knowing that the mosquito season was soon to arrive, the interpreter asked whether he had a mosquito net and if he was using it. With a gleam in his eye, Besta let us know that he had a mosquito net but was conserving it because the season hadn’t arrived yet.
I asked the interpreter about Besta’s tattered shorts and discovered that they were on loan from a friend. He didn’t want to wear his good school uniform shorts in the holidays in case they got ruined. So the ragged ones borrowed from a friend would have to do. Before leaving Lilongwe we made our way to a local market where we picked up two new sets of clothes for Besta plus a blanket that was delivered through the HOPE for Aids Orphan Care Coordinator. Every time I think of Besta it makes my heart ache as I reflect on his tenuous but enthusiastic grip on life as one of the poorest of the poor.