UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS

December 1, 2007

Conversations with HIV-positive Women

In my work of helping people living with HIV, I visit health facilities and hospitals around the country, meeting with HIV-positive mothers and children. On November 23, I visited the (UNICEF-supported) Kibogora health center located in the rural areas of the west province of Rwanda which borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Before I arrived to the health center, I drove miles from Kigali to Cyangugu and then I traveled along the Lake Kivu until I reached the health center. Nyamasheke district is among the most fertile areas of the country and December is the big raining season in Rwanda, that’s when the landscape turns very green. That day, between 2000 and 3000 people walked from surrounding sectors of the Nyamasheke district for consultation on various diseases. Some came for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV programme, while others came for voluntary counseling and testing, pediatric treatment and related support of children infected and affected by AIDS. 

Let me share with you some of the conversations I had with the HIV-positive women and children I met during my visit to Kibogora.

Mukamana Vestine, 42, has a small business and does agriculture work on the side. She is HIV-positive and so is her husband. They have four children and one child, aged six, is also HIV-positive. Vestine discovered her serological status in 2002. Today, she leads an association of people living with HIV. Some of the major and most common challenges faced by people living with HIV are the costs of school materials for their children, such as uniforms and school fees; especially when it comes to the shift from primary to secondary education. Health care costs are another big challenge. The care needed by parents who fall ill constitutes a burden for their children. Some children drop-out from school while others don’t perform well due to their high absenteeism.

Bampire Ladegonde is 40 years old and HIV-positive. She is married and has 5 children aged 15, 13, 10, 7 and 5. Her 7 year-old child is HIV-positive and on treatment. He is in the first year of primary school. Ladegonde found out her serological status in 2002--two weeks before the birth of her last born who is HIV free. Ladegonde’s husband discovered his serological status in 2003 and started treatment in 2005. Since he started his treatment, he doesn’t need to go to the hospital as often as before. Ladegonde has been coping with her status and appears stronger; she takes care of her family and is always ready to advise others. This is one of the things I notice when I visit people living with HIV: the ones who cope very well with their status manage better than the ones who are discouraged and disappointed with life.

With treatment, people can live longer which allows children to benefit from their parents’ affection, supervision and care. Treatment helps people living with HIV to remain stronger and live longer and that lowers the number of orphans. You can see that your support is producing tremendous results; there is no greater achievement than to save people’s lives, especially children and young people. It’s a good way to build society and the nations of tomorrow. Your support is of great importance and helps reduce maternal and infant mortality and ensure the survival of children thanks to the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and pediatric treatments.

Muganimana Fidele is yet another young person affected by the epidemic. Both his mother and father are HIV-positive; both are very sick and cannot work either in the field or within the family. The kids had to take over responsibilities, taking care of the house and going to school. At 15, Fidele is in the 6th class of primary school and next year he will shift to the secondary school. Consider the distances children have to go, walking from home to school! It is not easy for these children to combine both school and family work especially working in the field. Fidele is a very articulate boy and speaks with clarity. He is determined and has a vision for his future. Listening to him talk, I can’t help but see how mature he is, prematurely. He tells me with confidence “I want to become a journalist; if I get a chance to go to university, I will study journalism. I like journalism so much”. But Fidele and his brother and sisters wake-up at 4.30 he says. Being the eldest, he leads all the work to be done during the day. His sisters are 13 years old and 11 years old, his brother is 5 years old.  Between 4.30 am and 7.00 am they have to do the house work before they go to school. When they are back home from school in the afternoon, they can’t relax like other kids do; they go back to work until it’s time to go to bed.  For all his assurance, there is also a mix of feelings with Fidele about his challenging life, he is still so young yet has seen so much. Having been born in a rural area myself, I sympathize with those children. They have set up an informal mutual system to support each other with other vulnerable children and work in rotation in the field, one time on one’s family land and one time at another’s family land. Poverty challenges all these children very much for school materials, uniforms, clothing and other basic requirements for the family. They miss care, support, affection and love but they also miss opportunities…Please join us in supporting these children so that they can survive and thrive.