Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope
Story By Jenna Bush // Article Made By Morgen Finn
Ana's Childhood
Ana is a young woman who was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Ana never got to know her mother, because she died of the dreaded disease. All Ana had left of her mother was a photograph. She hoped and dreamed that she would look like her mama. Later in life, Ana found out that she had a little sister, Lucia, but she died when she was only two months old. Even with the death of her sister though, Ana had her other younger sister, Isabel. Ana's papa could not take care of her because he was not confident that he could raise two toddlers on his own, so Ana and Isabel were sent to live with their abulea and her husband, Ernesto, a raging alcoholic. When abulea was not around, Ernesto would touch Isabel and Ana. Ana wanted to speak up for her little sister and herself, but when she told abulea she did not believe her. Ana was soon sent to go live with her aunt.
Ana's Travels
Although Ana was happy with her papa, she was forced to go live with her abulea and her husband. As said in the first paragraph, her and her sister ,Isabel, were forced to go and live with their aunt, Sonia, because of abuse in the other home. Sonia ended up also abusing Ana but not Isabel. This caused Ana to be transferred to an orphanage where she met Berto. She became very close to Berto. One day, she gave him a note telling him the she was HIV positive. He smiled and scribbled the words me too on the paper. The next day Berto had been transferred to an orphanage where everyone was HIV positive. "I'll try to get them to transfer you." he wrote on a note to Ana "You'll be happier here." A few days after, Ana was transferred to the orphanage and Berto and Ana were reunited once more. This is where Ana would stay until her late teens.
Ana Now
Today, Ana has a baby girl named Beatriz. Even though Berto is Beatriz's father, Ana has been dating another man by the name of Guillermo, and she is very happy. Unlike Ana, Beatriz is not HIV/AIDS positive and she is very healthy. Soon after she had Beatriz, Ana was no longer allowed to live in the orphanage and she is living with one of her other aunts. Ana went to go visit Isabel, where she is now at an orphanage. Isabel had changed. She was in trouble and the once clean-cut, confident girl was gone and replaced with a troublemaker. Ana promised Isabel that she would get her out of the orphanage as soon as she could.
Jenna Bush Talks About Ana's Story
"HIV does not make people dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands and give them a hug: Heaven knows they need it."
-Princess Diana