UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS

About me

Hello, my name is Persis Halley and I am 57 years old.  At present I work as a counsellor with the Ministry of Health at the West Demerara Hospital as part of their Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Programme against HIV and AIDS.

I was born in Mora, which is a farming community around 24 miles from the capital city.  We had a simple house with no electricity. I would help with the weeding, planting of vegetables and raising of pigs and fowl.  I grew up with my grandmother, who always wanted me to become a nurse. She gave me the support I needed to pursue my education.  She would even stay up late at night with me by candlelight and help me with my homework. 

I fulfilled my grandmother's dream. I became a registered nurse in 1972 and later a matron. I have been trained in anaesthetic nursing, midwifery, psychiatric treatment and health management skills. Now I am a proud mother of four beautiful children, one of whom is a teacher and also an HIV activist.

When I counsel women, sometimes I am the only one that knows about their HIV status. They live keeping their status secret from everyone. But they trust me: I am often the one who has told them that they are HIV positive. It is very important for me to be able to counsel these women, to advise them how they can prevent transmission to their babies and to let them confide in someone because life for them is very hard.

UNICEF has helped the government develop a plan of action for HIV. We are now making progress with our work on the prevention of transmission of HIV from mother to child and the care of orphaned and vulnerable children. We need long-term commitment from donors so that we can do much more. Thank you for your kind support. All my life I have dreamt of helping people in Guyana, and I hope that you can help me with my dream.