Excerpt from “One Thousand Wells”:

“As Milton, Joel, and I stood upon the expanse of the barren land, we could see it. We could see the clinic that would bring hope to a community wrought with loss. A place that would save lives and equip men, women, and children with knowledge, health care, and medicine. We could see it because the community, right before our eyes, was beginning to build it. A group of young men stood in a line, passing large stones from one person to another. Others pushed wheelbarrows of sand from the distant river up the hill. This small community was responding to their beloved friend’s dream, in his memory. They labored with hope that their futures could be different.”

Today their futures are different. That clinic is Lwala Community Hospital, operated by our local partner, Lwala Community Alliance, and people like Lillian are being served because of the community’s response to their friend’s dream.

Lillian learned in January that she is HIV-positive. Devastated by the test results, Lillian did not return for her next appointment. But with the help of a community health worker, Jane, her mentor mother, was able to find where Lillian lived and rushed to her home. Jane, who is also HIV-positive, was able to reassure Lillian and talked to her about ways she can continue to live positively.

Thanks to the care provided at the clinic today, Lillian has accepted her status and is now regularly taking her antiretroviral therapy (ART) drugs. Hers is a future that will be different because of the labor of love co-founder Jena Lee Nardella described in her memoir, “One Thousand Wells.”

The paperback version is now available. It’s the perfect summer read! Order yours today.

LEARN MORE: LWALA COMMUNITY ALLIANCE, HIV/AIDS