If I kept it to myself - World YWCA

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If I kept it to myself work and development of home based care in South Africa, through the production of historical records, articles and a journal. This material would be circulated to South African and international organisations to keep them informed and attract their support. • The building of Arts and Culture Centres, to be run in association with the HBC programme and as infrastructure for support groups and their income-generating projects. • The establishment of a multi-service centre or “one-stop-shop” in at least one rural area to provide access to community health and related services. As a young South African, I know that this line of work challenges one to remain humble, and not to seek fame or material fortune. However, it also presents one with opportunities to develop inner greatness. I feel a great sense of pride when I can assist even one lonely, frightened, afflicted person living in the isolation here among the Drakensberg Mountains. Through my employment with HIVAN, which partners with the Child Survival project, I am now a researcher documenting the lives of the people living at the centre of the AIDS pandemic in this remote rural setting. Everyday, the work I do motivates me and deepens my understanding of the levels, causes and lessons of such suffering in our society. The more I pursue my work and study, the more I know what it is to be human, and what humanity asks of me and gives to me. 54 Born: 1979 Country: KwaZulu Natal, South Africa Organisation: HIV and AIDS Networking (HIVAN), World Vision Campaigns for: Care and Support of PLWHA, their families and care givers
Young women intervene in a world with AIDS Agnes Njeri Wanjiku The issue of disclosure of HIV status, especially between married couples, is very tricky. We have many cases of discordant couples who suffer silently because they fear rejection from spouses if they disclose their status. My name is Agnes Njeri, a 27-year-old from Kenya. I joined KENWA in 1999 after being a care giver to my aunt who was a commercial sex worker (CSW) and HIV positive. Because of taking care of my ailing Aunt, my family wanted nothing to do with me. My family believed that my aunt had brought the disease upon herself by doing sex work. To them this was the consequence of immoral behaviour and was therefore a much deserved punishment. Despite this stigma I never gave up taking care of her until she passed away December 26, 1999. My aunt had one son and a grandchild. Unfortunately, the son was murdered one year later. Through this experience, I felt it was my duty to act as an ambassador in my community to help people who are HIV positive through counselling. Since October 24, 2004 I have been the coordinator of KENWA’s drop-in-centre in Mathare, where I have been reaching out to the community. The population in Mathare is around 700,000 people, and more than 150,000 people are HIV positive. At the centre, we have 330 care givers and 18 community health workers. The care givers work on a voluntary basis and sometimes we give them a small token of appreciation. The feeding programme caters for 136 orphans and vulnerable children. 110 of the children are in school and 26 are under the age of five. We feed them seven days a week, although due to limited funding, we are only able to provide breakfast and lunch. Some family members claim responsibility for their relatives` children as guardians, but some HIV positive people and care givers are also parenting orphans. Through KENWA we have managed to provide vocational training in hairdressing and dressmaking to young women. In my centre, we took seven commercial sex workers (CSWs) for vocational training, although unfortunately two dropped out because of lack of interest and commitment. We also gave two CSWs capital to start small businesses and they are doing quite well. 13 CSWs have also been introduced to the Kenya rural enterprise project, which offers micro-finance loans to KENWA members for income generating activities. Our centre has a young mothers’ club, which mainly deals with fighting stigma and discrimination, through songs, dance and drama with messages specifically tailored to change the behaviour and perceptions of people with regard to HIV and AIDS related issues. The young mothers meet every Saturday to share experiences and encourage each other. During sessions they are all given condoms, which they later distribute in pubs, clubs and other entertainment spots. Beatrice Waithera is a young single mother aged 24 years, with two children. She was a commercial sex worker in Nairobi. I first met with her in June 2004 at East Leigh, St Vincent Antenatal Clinic in Nairobi where I had been invited for a health talk session with expectant mothers. She was then eight months pregnant. Three days after meeting with Beatrice, she came to Mathare drop-in-centre wanting to know more about prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) because she had just learnt about her HIV positive status. She gave birth just after being introduced to the support group. 55
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If I kept it to myself - World YWCA

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