19/02/2013
Wendi* is a 40 year old widow, with five children ages 18
to 25. She moved to Awassa from Wolayta around 20 years ago. She lives in the poorest area of the city, in a home constructed from mud and dung. Her husband worked
for the water bureau and often travelled long distances and for long periods of
time to dig wells and provide manual labour for water resources. It is likely
this is how he contracted HIV, he died 11 years ago.
After she lost her husband, she
noticed that she was falling ill regularly; her body often ached and itched so
she decided to get her blood tested. She went with one of her daughters
supporting her and discovered she was HIV+. This news caused much discomfort
with her other children, and she suffered discrimination not only directly from them but also from her community.
OSSA provided her with some financial assistance,
she was also part of the world food program, meaning she received regular
donations of wheat each month to be able to make food. This contributed
greatly to her health improving, which was particularly noticeable via her CD4 count.
However, due to her recovering health, she was no longer eligible for the world
food aid, which clearly had a diminutive effect.
She tried to support herself making
injera to sell, but once word got around about her HIV status no one would buy
from her, she became isolated and unable to sustain herself. She had saved some
of the money she had received, but it did not last her long once she was
reliant on it to live from day to day. Fortunately she is now earning a small
income making some homemade foods and selling close to her home where people
respect her regardless of her status.
Her OSSA counsellor has had a positive
effect on her psychological well-being although she is still very ashamed of
her positive status, and will hide her ART medication from view of others, not disclosing
her health to anyone. As a result of her ART medication she now also suffers
from hypertension and regular fevers, but she considers this somewhat better
than her illnesses before her medications.
Kx
*Names have been changed to protect
identity.
No comments:
Post a Comment