Please Pray for Sonaji, age 5, in India

Sonaji is about 5 years old and is very sick. He was abandoned, found in a dump and left at the doorstep of Santvana Home in Pune, India this past February. He was brought by two social workers who left a letter stating his name and that he was HIV positive. There was no other information given regarding his family background, history, surname or date of birth.

Dr. Edwards, director of Santvana, and Uma Shankardas, Orphan Outreach India director, described that Sonaji was absolutely skin and bones with open sores and skin infections all over his emaciated body. He was in such pitiful condition that the staff had to literally peel off the clothing he had on. He came with only the clothes on his back. Finding clothes for him was difficult because he was tall, but as small as a six-month old baby.

When Sonaji first came to the home all he did was cry. He was not potty trained so the staff and kids were cleaning after him all the time. Dr. Edwards patiently nursed him back to health.

Sonaji has made a lot of progress since he first came to the home. However Dr. Edwards remains very concerned as his condition worsens. His AIDS virus is very advanced and he may only have weeks or even days left to live. For the past couple of months the staff at Santvana has taken him to the hospital to determine the extent of his condition, but doctors have never been able to draw enough blood to obtain a CD4 count. Unfortunately, no hospital will take him for anti-retroviral therapy (ART) until they have his CD4 report.

Even though he is eating well, he is still very weak. He is placed on a special diet where he eats every two to two and a half hours, which he enjoys and walks to Dr. Edwards' office if there is a delay of even fifteen minutes.

Praise God for rescuing this sweet boy and bringing him to Santvana. Pray for healing in Sonaji's life, that he would gain strength and weight as he only weighs about twenty-six pounds. Pray that Sonaji's hope and trust would rest in the Lord. Also pray for Dr. Edwards and the staff and children as they care for Sonaji.