European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 26, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Children with aids the innocent victim by Lynn Berry the associated press four year old Stephie knows she s sick and she knows it s because her Mother took drugs. She also knows that she will someday go to heaven a Beautiful place where Angels live six year old Tom knows none of these things. Like Stephie he is infected with the aids virus unlike Stephie his Mother has chosen to keep his infection a secret a from classmates teachers neighbors even from Tom. Quot its a hush up thing Quot she said. Quot everyone s ignorant of the  ten years into the aids epidemic the contagion s course among its Littlest victims is told with statistics a More than 3,000 cases of aids in children under age 13 reported to the Federal centers for disease control 2,500 of them under age 5, though officials believe the actual number is much higher. But the Story is also told in the lives of Stephie and Tom a the one child whose illness is an open Book bathed in attention the other whose infection is hidden for fear that hard hearts will turn against him and his family. Stephien a grandmother Edie Schaefer has made aids education her cause and Stephie a local celebrity in Media a. The cheerful Little girl with Long Blond curls has been on talk shows and in the news since she was less than a year old. Quot if i feel we can help one or two other people then Stephie will not die in vain Quot said Edie. Quot that s what keeps me  Stephie was 11 months old when she was diagnosed with aids. Her liver and spleen Are enlarged and her Lymph nodes Are swollen and hard like dried peas. Stephie s Mother an intravenous drug user infected with the aids virus left Stephie with relatives and fled to Arizona where she still lives. Another of Edies four daughters kept the baby for a few months but she wanted to work and was unable to find a Day care Center willing to take an infected child. The family took their plight to their state senator and Stephie made the news for the first time. Suitable child care was never found Edie says so she decided to stay Home and take care of Stephie. Stephie s bedroom is full of toys Many of them gifts from strangers. Stuffed animals Are perched in rows around the room and piled on her bed. Games cover the floor leaving Only a narrow pathway to the door. She likes to play House and one Day brought a visiting reporter and photographer into the game. She called them her children and served up Small bowls of her specially Quot chocolate  one of her favorite toys is a child s tape recorder with a microphone that amplifies her voice when she sings along to songs she knows by heart. Quot i can be anything i dream. Here in my own world its Only up to me Quot she sings and she smiles. In past years most children born with the aids virus died before they were 2 or 3, according to or. Harold Lischner chief of immunology at St. Christophers Hospital for children in Philadelphia. Now he said most live to see their sixth birthdays and the oldest Are entering their teens thanks to earlier detection and new treatments to prevent infections. Stephie takes doses of the drug at three times a Day and since february she has received monthly infusions of Gamma globulin to fight infection. She has fewer Runny noses and does not tire As quickly As she once did Edie says. She seems healthy but Edie has no illusions. A we talk about god in heaven and she knows she a sick and someday Shell go to heaven a and so will  Tom meanwhile has no symptoms of his infection which was diagnosed when he was 3 years old. His Mother a former drug abuser Learned she had the aids virus when she was six months pregnant with her second son. She worried about herself and the unborn baby but assumed her older son was Fine. After the baby was born both children were tested. The younger boy was Fine but Tom tested positive. Quot i get depressed Quot his Mother said. Quot Ever time i get sick in a afraid in a going to die. Part of its from being a Mother. What a going to happen to the kids after in a gone Quot Tom attends a Public elementary school in Philadelphia. According to the District s e aids policy in Force since 1985, Only the superintendent the District medical director and school nurse need know a child has aids. Teachers Are taught to Don gloves before touching any bleeding child blood transmits not Only the aids virus but also hepatitis and other diseases Tom is not the boys real name a for fear of aids discrimination his Mother has told her own Mother and his school principal but no one else of her songs infection. If his friends knew Quot they would put him aside. He d be an outcast Quot she said. He is not an outcast now he is a playful animated boy with closely cropped Brown hair. He takes at and goes to the Hospital for a Gamma globulin infusion once a month. His Mother says she does not Tell him about his infection because she does not believe he is old enough to understand. But try As she might she knows she cannot shield him forever from the truth of the virus they share when he asks she says Quot i Hope i find the right words to say Quot s in t e r e e a s s t t y g i r f e e i a 2 3 top Edio Schaefer gives granddaughter Stephie one of three it Daity doses of the drug at. Above s Stephie hugs her cat Fluffy. Readers action Lin foreign military not entitled to App i am a Petty Olti Cor second class in the Canadian forces stationed at he Allied air forces Central Europe Ramstein a working out of the Erwin Bunker in Birkenfeld i would like to know Why nato personnel like the British French germans and canadians have such a difficult time getting any of the plans which Are Given to the americans like deferred payment plan and Home layaway plan Are we not entitled to receive these plans7 any american Exchange Soldier or officer who is transferred to any unit in Canada is authorized to use any facility without the problems we get Over Here to me if you Are stationed to a unit and you Are a part of the unit you should be entitled to the Lull benefits and privileges As everyone else of that unit. . Soso Ramstein Germany in sgt. Maj. Michel j. Bolduc he cafes Europe replies i m sorry you can to participate in deferred payment plan and Home layaway plan. These overseas credit plans Are approved and regulated by our United states Congress House armed services committee which dictates who is eligible the purpose of App and help is to permit u s service members and civilian department of defense employees stationed overseas to Purchase items on credit which they might not otherwise be Able to Purchase. We do not offer this service to authorized customers stationed in the United states you Are eligible to participate in our regular layaway a program. I know it s not the same because you must wait a for your merchandise until you be paid off the balance s but regular layaway has one big advantage Over App and help programs a no interest charges. To write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes Apo a 09211 All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. Page 16 abcs the stars and stripes tuesday november 26, 1991