UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS

November 1, 2008

Poverty and HIV

The HIV epidemic has worsened the condition of women and children in Swaziland─regardless of their geographic setting.

During my regular work routine, I came across a 28- year old mother of four children aged between 5 and 12, the last one having died after birth. Cebie Makhanya is currently working in the country’s textile industry and earns a meager salary.

Cebie’s own upbringing was a sad one.
“I was born out of wedlock and grew up with my uncle who was very abusive and as a result I dropped out of school at the age of 16 and before long, ended up pregnant. The father to the child did not support the child and I decided to sell vegetables outside one of the big sugar companies,” she says sadly.

While selling vegetables, she met a man, Dlamini, who showed interest in her and started buying more vegetables. He also showed her sympathy and gave her extra money. This led to a relationship and Dlamini took her to his home and made her his fourth wife.
In Swazi tradition, a man after proposing marriage does not tell her the exact night of her wedding which is normally a painful surprise to most women. A man can also marry as many women as he likes.

Cebie gave birth to three more children with Dlamini and when the last one died, she suspected it was AIDS and decided to visit the clinic to check her HIV status. Her worse fear was confirmed and Cebi was found to be HIV-positive. When she told her husband about her HIV status, he did not seem surprised, telling her he had known of his own HIV status three years ago and had already started taking ARVs. He said he had been afraid to tell her of his status.

Cebie was very upset. She left to look for a job in town. Today Cebie monitors her immune system. If it weakens, she can start taking anti-retroviral drugs. Luckily, she is still strong and vows she will not go back to her husband for fear of re-infection.

UNICEF is currently supporting AMICAALL, a non-governmental organisation which runs HIV and AIDS services in towns, to assist people like Cebie who are living with HIV. Cebie is currently undergoing counseling. It took courage for her to leave her husband. “Leaving my children behind was not easy and when I get a good paying job, I will fetch them to live with me,” Cebie says.

I feel that with more funds, UNICEF can provide additional support to organizations like AMICAAL that ensure that women and children receive access to HIV and AIDS care as well as information.