Little Heaven

Synopsis

"HIV is like somebody living in my body without paying rent. I don't know him and I don't like him."—Lydia, 13, Little Heaven Orphanage, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Lydia is at a turning point in her life. We experience life through Lydia’s expressive face and reflective diary entries, her daily routines at the Little Heaven orphanage for children living with HIV, her conversations with other children there, her doctors’ appointments, and her exercise, study, and prayer. Despite being abandoned by their families or left alone when their parents died, the children form a new family, together with their caretakers. Their HIV status is always in the background, but small victories show us a life that is full of hope­, not despair.