With Health, There is Still Hope
Even with illnesses, these people learned to be happy
Another Chance for Dance
A young girl thinks dance is her life and wins a big competition. The same night she loses her leg. Veda thinks she can never dance again. She gives up thinking that there is no point dancing again. Why should such an experienced dancer restart all over again with the little kids? That’s when Veda’s doctor tells her about a prosthetic leg. Even though Veda decided to quit already, she gets up and tries again with her leg. She thought that her problem was solved since she had a fake leg. She thought she could dance the way she used to. When Veda found out that even with her fake leg, she had to start from the beginning, she wanted to leave. And when she found out that she couldn’t even do simple dance steps that little kids could do, she never wanted to see the face of dancing again. Her instructor told her the key to dancing and the key to do the best. Never say you don’t want to do it, because you won’t get any better and concentration. Veda listen to her instructor and now, she could dance like the girl she used to be.
Living the Dream
Esther Grace Earl was a happy girl born on August 3rd, 1994. She had loved life and was just happy all the time. When Esther was 11 years old, she and her family moved to France. A year later, she was diagnosed with Metastatic Papillary Thyroid Cancer. She always felt sick and tired. So she went to the doctor or her dad gave her some medicine. Esther couldn’t walk short distances. Before Esther was slightly athletic but now she wasn’t. But with when she found out she had cancer, she had learned that there was more to life. She learned that happiness is the key to a happy life, even if you have a life threatening disease. “Just be happy, and if you can’t be happy, do things that make you happy. Or do nothing with the people who make you happy.” This is a quote listed by Esther Earl. Cancer also lead her to make a list of things to do and places to go before she dies. It included, having a “Free Hugs” stand, do something for sick children, taste different food, go to India and to witness something truly amazing. Although Esther is not with us today, she’s made a difference in our hearts.
Different on the Outside, Alike at Heart
Habo and Paige are two people that were viewed differently than normal people. Paige has HIV. HIV is when a virus enters inside of a T lymphocyte cell, also known as a T cell. A T cell is a type of White Blood Cell. When the virus spreads inside of the T cell, it makes duplicates of itself. Now that the body is filled with cells with a virus, they can’t help you get better when you are sick. Habo is an albino. Albinism is when someone has no pigments in their skin and they can’t see well. When Paige was in school, she was bullied by her very own best friend. She thought that she could tell her best friend that she was an HIV positive. After she told her best friend, her best friend told everyone that Paige was an AIDS patient, not an HIV patient. Everyone laughed at her and teased at her and Paige felt like she had no friends. She finally stood up and accepted herself of who she was. Habo’s family lost their house, so they had to leave Arusha and go to Mwanza. Habo learned that in Mwanza that people kill albinos because their bodies give luck. Habo runs away to a city that doesn’t have any albino killings and stays there after he almost is killed. Both Paige and Habo learned that is tough being considered “ill”, but they must accept it and embrace who they really are.