Let’s look at the lives of two clients of the Namikango Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT). (All names have been changed to maintain client confidentiality).
Susan
Susan joined the Namikango HIV/AIDS support group in 2009, and recently noted, “The support group has helped me in so many ways, most especially on the spiritual side.” She said before she joined the group she had no hope and thought she would have passed on by now. She also remembers the discrimination and insults when her community learned she tested HIV positive.
Though Susan benefited from the support group, her husband did not join because he feared being laughed at, and discriminated against. Susan notes that, “He takes the ARVs (Antiretroviral medications) but says he cannot join the group, because he fears people will know he is positive and may laugh at him”. She further notes the lack of balanced food supplement is a challenge, since she does not have the money to access better, more nourishing food items.
Judy
Judy is another member of the group, and she is from Mbamba Village. She joined the group in 2010, and reports that she does not regret joining the group. In the past year Judy has learned a number of things that have transformed her health. Like Susan, she remembers the way people laughed at her, when she disclosed that she is positive. However, today she has developed confidence, and even encourages her friends to join the support group. She is a mother of three. Unlike Susan, who still enjoys the love of her husband, Judy’s husband abandoned her when he learned she had tested positive. “Just after I tested positive, my husband left me, saying he could not stay with an HIV positive wife. This obviously aggravated my problem.” Unlike Susan who is supported by her husband (a tailor by profession) Judy depends on piecework, or part time jobs, in order to support her three children.
These two ladies are just examples of women who are silently suffering because of the HIV/AIDS problem besides poverty. However, both feel a great need of funds to assist them to sustain their lives and support their children. Upon receiving supplies from the Malawi Project, in the U.S., and assisting groups Universal Aide Society and the Compassionate Resources Warehouse in British Columbia, Canada, Judy noted, “We appreciate the donation of clothes, shoes and soap that we have received. We are also seeking the provision of start up capital in order for us start small businesses.” Judy added that, “It is indeed good to teach us how to fish, than for you to continue to provide the fish.
You can read more about HIV/AIDS in Malawi here.