IT was a simple act of kindness that blossomed into 13 years of love and commitment to a child that is not her own by birth, but is in every sense hers.

In June 1997, 43-year-old Andrea Willis was going about her usual day-to-day activities manning her stall from which she made a living in New Kingston. The mother of four had always had a good relationship with her clients and usually found time to talk with and counsel even those many would consider dirty and unworthy. Marcia, who lived on the street, was one such person.

"I knew Marcia. She lived on the road and I knew she was pregnant. One day she came to me asking for a 'scandal' bag. I realised that her belly had gone down and I asked her if she had the baby already. She said yes, the baby was over at Mas Camp. Out of curiosity, I asked her why she wanted the bag and she said she was going to throw it away," Willis recalled.

Concerned that Marcia would not be able to take care of the child and would indeed carry out her plan to kill the baby, Andrea Willis asked her if she would give the baby away.

But Marcia said it depended on who wanted the child, and that she would prefer to give the baby to Willis, as she had treated her well.

"She wanted to bring the baby to me right away, but I said no, as I needed to discuss it with my family. I came home, sat with my family and discussed it with them. The children all said yes, I should take the baby home," Willis said.

"The following day, I went to work and there she was, waiting for me. I told her I would take the baby and

she went for her and returned

with all the papers for registration," she reminisced.

Willis said the baby, whom she later named Arianne, was very small. She immediately took the child to the Victoria Jubilee Hospital for a check-up where she found out that the child weighed only three-and-a-half pounds, despite being a full-term baby.

Arianne was hospitalised, and remained at the hospital for one month until she was well enough to be sent home.

However, when the time came for her to be discharged, hospital officials were reluctant to give Arianne over to Willis, given that the woman was not the next of kin.

In order to get the child, Willis was forced to travel to the Papine Market in St Andrew to find the relative listed as the next of kin on the papers Marcia had signed. The woman signed the papers for her without question and Arianne went home with Willis.

Over the next two years, Willis and her family watched the happy little girl blossom. They shared many fond memories -- her first word, the day she began to creep and the day she made her first step.

As far as Willis and her family knew, Arianne was just like any other baby. But she wasn't.

"In about 2000, I came home and the lady at the nursery told me that Arianne was sick and having severe diarrhoea all day and it looked very milky. I took her to a private doctor and we were immediately referred to Bustamante Hospital. They did many tests at the hospitals. At first I did not know what was going on. I knew something was wrong because the doctor kept asking me 'are you sure you are not the mother of this child' and she had a lot

of attitude, as if I was lying," Willis recalled.

One day Willis, accompanied by one of her biological daughters, went to visit Arianne at the hospital. It was when her daughter began sifting through Arianne's docket then they found out what was really wrong with the child and why the doctor was so hostile towards her.

"My daughter asked the doctor how come nobody had told me that the baby was HIV- positive. We were advised to see a social worker and when we went she told me I had the option of giving her up. I was very angry because I didn't tell her I wanted to give her up. I just wanted information. I cried and prayed, came home and talked to my family again. We had all grown to love her and she was like a part of the family. We again decided that we would keep her," Willis said.

Ten years later, Arianne is still with Willis and her family. After her diagnosis at age two, Willis stopped working full-time to ensure the child received the best care she could possibly get. In 2008, she stopped working as Arianne was having difficulties at school and needed special attention to ensure she did well enough to attend one of the better high schools in Jamaica.

Up to September of 2008, Arianne was not reading well and her grades had fallen way below average. Determined that she would do well, Willis and her daughters spent hours working with her. Their hard work paid off. Arianne graduated primary school with numerous academic awards and is now attending a prominent high school.

But despite Arianne's progress, Willis has been faced with other challenges.

Since September, she has been forced to go back to working full-time. Her supportive husband is now jobless, and his chances of being employed again becoming even slimmer each day, as he is diabetic.

However, despite the hardships, the family continues to support Arianne.

"Arianne is doing very well now. She doesn't get ill often; she is taking her medication. She did extremely well in primary school and she doing very well at high school. She is getting mostly 90s and a few high 80s," Willis said proudly.

She described the now adolescent Arianne as a kind and loving child.

"She is very thoughtful. I told her she was positive when she was 11 years old. Despite all we say to her, I don't think she is 100 per cent conscious of what is happening with her. I disclosed to her because she was getting into adolescence and I think she was old enough to understand. But I think she already knew vaguely what was happening with her, as every year during World AIDS Day, she would sit glued to the television and any programme that came on about HIV, she was always very interested in seeing it. When I took her to the doctor, she also read the docket and saw what was happening to her," Willis said.

She noted that at a certain point, all children who are infected need to know

their status.

"They need to know the health risks and be aware of what is happening to them. Children will play; they will get cuts, so they need to know what to do."

Willis said with the information she now has, she doesn't think she would have acted differently. She would have taken the child, rather than allow her to die.

"Arianne has motivated me a lot. She is an inspiration. I have learnt a lot about HIV because of her. I can now talk to people about it and encourage them that it does not have to be a death sentence."

Up to January 2007, just over 5,000 children had lost one or both parents to HIV in Jamaica. Between January and June 2008, 19 children were born with HIV.

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