Testimonies from Respondents-Global Fund
December 5, 2017
The NCCK in partnership with Global Fund has been implementing a project in seven sub counties in Nyeri County in for the last 5 years since July 2012 to December 2017. NCCK was contracted by Kenya Red Cross as a sub- recipient of global fund. The focus of the intervention has been three modules: i) Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT), ii) Care and Treatment Support and HIV Testing Services.
The County government of Nyeri was a critical stakeholder in the implementation of the programme. The programme seeks to ensure effective delivery of HIV services in the community and put in place structures of strengthens the continuum of care. The Community Health Volunteers remain the care of success and targets achievement and it was a good opportunity for NCCK to build their capacity within the five years.
The following are testimonies from respondents.
Testimonies from Respondents
Mary Waigwa CHV
Ragati CU,
Karatina Sub County, Nyeri County.
Mary lives in Karatina where her clients rely on her to provide answers on numerous aspects of health, hygiene and sanitation at the community level. She became a CHV in the year 2012 after the inception of Global Funds project with NCCK and since then she has undergone various trainings conducted by NCCK. Mary is very passionate about the HIV related volunteer work that she renders to the community. She has helped many couples to come out for testing, accept their HIV status and those living with HIV are living positively. “in the beginning I thought it was impossible to interact and share experiences with PLHIV because I didn’t know what to tell them and issues of stigma, but now we interact and share with them freely” I recalled how a truck driver and his wife struggled to come to terms with their HIV status. The wife turned positive when she was six months pregnant and later gave birth to an HIV positive child who later died. I pleaded with the husband to go for testing and when he finally accepted, he was HIV positive. It was difficult to accept the status. He went to be tested in a private clinic and he was confirmed to be positive. Even before he could come to terms with his status, he got sick and was admitted in hospital. With the encouragement and advice of clinicians in the hospital, he accepted his positive status. But all along I kept talking and encouraging them to adhere to medication and be treatment friends with the wife. Apart from the last born child who died all the other children are negative and the couple is now living positively with the virus and taking the medication as prescribed “ . The counselling Mary has been giving him has enabled him to be an advocate among his fellow truck drivers, urging them to be tested and to remain faithful to avoid re-infections or infecting others.
She also has another female client who is HIV positive. The husband is also positive. Initially the lady was taking medication well and when she was 4 months pregnant she started defaulting and got very weak until she was bedridden. Mary visited the family, encouraged them on adherence to medication and referred the lady to the hospital where she got treatment. She successfully gave birth to a HIV negative child and the couple is living positively by taking their medication as prescribed and they are treatment friends to each other.
Success story by Gladys Muthoni-Adolescent and the CHV
Gladys is a 16year old girl who was born HIV positive. She is currently in form 2. She lost her mum to the virus when she was only 4 years. After the death of her mum, her father married another woman who mistreated her after knowing her status. Her dad had no interest in caring her and she was taken over by her elderly grand-mother who had to take her to the health facility. Mary the CHV took interest in the health of Gladys and was the one taking her to the health facility. This continued even after she started school and would pass by Mary’s house every morning and evening from school to eat food and take medication. The challenge was that the parents were a discordant couple hence it was difficult for the father to accept that it was his child. The father was HIV negative. During holidays, she stays with her paternal aunt who according to Mary has accepted her as her own child.
She was informed of her status when she was 9 years in standard two since she kept asking why she is the only one taking medication and not her cousins. Since then she has joined support group of adolescents. Through the support groups she has been sensitized on positive living. Gladys has gone through hard times despite her age, when she was in standard six someone misled her that if she had sex with boys who were negative, the virus would disappear, something that she tried without success and refused to take medication. She got very weak and admitted to hospital and the drugs that were administered on her had bad side-effects that her entire body skin looks burnt and she completely lost her hair. She is now healthy despite the skin condition and her hair is growing again. Mary her CHV talked very fondly of her, she referred to her as her own daughter considering the care she has taken upon herself to care for Gladys since she was young. Gladys has aspirations of becoming a doctor in future as she would like to help the sick regain their health.
Testimony from a couple both of them living with HIV and have a HIV negative child. In Narumoru
Efond Kamau and Alice Muthoni are a couple living with HIV. Efond knew his status in 1999 and since then he has married two wives who have since died. The first one used to get children and they would die, she also eventually died in the year 2003. He married another who died without getting children. Alice too was married to another man who cheated her that he was HIV negative and eventually infected her. When she fell sick and went to the health facility, the clinicians advised her to get a HIV test. The test was positive “I was shocked by the test and immediately confronted my fiancé who ran away. I was devastated and confused and kept to myself until I decided to go to my mother”. It was a difficult time for her, she faced stigma and discrimination from her own mother. “Mum alipojua niko positive, alianza kunipea kikombe yangu, sahani yangu, mototo wangu ako class eight hakutaka nimguze”. “Hata education kwa wazazi na jamii zetu ni muhimu ” Later she met the current husband and learnt that he is also HIV positive. Kamau was determined to have children of his own and when he married the 3rd wife Alice Muthoni, they supported each other in adhering to medication. He was hopeful to have a child and with the advice from the hospital, the wife was able to conceive “Nilikuwa nimepoteza watoto wawili, nilikuwa naogopa hata kupata watoto wengine lakini CHV wetu alitupa mawaidha na sasa niko na mototo mwingine na ako negative” It was at this point that the CHV identified them and Jemimah confessed that she concentrated at the couple to ensure that they delivered an HIV negative baby. “When mapping my house visits, I concentrated on the couple since they wanted to have a child. I wanted to teach them how they can go through the process and deliver a healthy baby. ” She used to visit them regularly and referred them to the clinician who supported them during the ANC visits. Alice described her experience during pregnancy as smooth since she had accepted her status and took the medication as prescribed and the husband is very supportive. They attended all the clinics and eventually gave birth to an HIV negative baby. They have another child in class eight whom Alice had given birth to before she was infected. The couple is mentoring other mothers and couples to encourage them that they are capable of living healthy families as long as they know their HIV status, adhere to medication and follow advice given by the CHVs and clinicians.
Conclusion
The Project results are very visible. The project was able to meet its objectives and delivery results as expected. Lives have been saved through adherence to medication, adherence to PMTCT principles and family or spouses support. The CHVs did their work effectively and were able collaborate with the health facilities to foster client support. Their support to both the ministry and the community enhanced access to health of the families and children, this has contributed to the national as well as global objective on access to health for all. The CHVs also continued to create awareness at community level on matters health which contributed to access to information at that level. The health facilities collaborated well with the CHVs to offer support to the clients and this has seen improved health for both the child, the mother as well as the father. On matters to disclosure, this has seen reduction to stigma and discrimination as well as enhanced support from the family members. Hence the services offered by this grant have born sustainable success.
Testimonies from Respondents
Mary Waigwa CHV
Ragati CU,
Karatina Sub County, Nyeri County.
Mary lives in Karatina where her clients rely on her to provide answers on numerous aspects of health, hygiene and sanitation at the community level. She became a CHV in the year 2012 after the inception of Global Funds project with NCCK and since then she has undergone various trainings conducted by NCCK. Mary is very passionate about the HIV related volunteer work that she renders to the community. She has helped many couples to come out for testing, accept their HIV status and those living with HIV are living positively. “in the beginning I thought it was impossible to interact and share experiences with PLHIV because I didn’t know what to tell them and issues of stigma, but now we interact and share with them freely” I recalled how a truck driver and his wife struggled to come to terms with their HIV status. The wife turned positive when she was six months pregnant and later gave birth to an HIV positive child who later died. I pleaded with the husband to go for testing and when he finally accepted, he was HIV positive. It was difficult to accept the status. He went to be tested in a private clinic and he was confirmed to be positive. Even before he could come to terms with his status, he got sick and was admitted in hospital. With the encouragement and advice of clinicians in the hospital, he accepted his positive status. But all along I kept talking and encouraging them to adhere to medication and be treatment friends with the wife. Apart from the last born child who died all the other children are negative and the couple is now living positively with the virus and taking the medication as prescribed “ . The counselling Mary has been giving him has enabled him to be an advocate among his fellow truck drivers, urging them to be tested and to remain faithful to avoid re-infections or infecting others.
She also has another female client who is HIV positive. The husband is also positive. Initially the lady was taking medication well and when she was 4 months pregnant she started defaulting and got very weak until she was bedridden. Mary visited the family, encouraged them on adherence to medication and referred the lady to the hospital where she got treatment. She successfully gave birth to a HIV negative child and the couple is living positively by taking their medication as prescribed and they are treatment friends to each other.
Success story by Gladys Muthoni-Adolescent and the CHV
Gladys is a 16year old girl who was born HIV positive. She is currently in form 2. She lost her mum to the virus when she was only 4 years. After the death of her mum, her father married another woman who mistreated her after knowing her status. Her dad had no interest in caring her and she was taken over by her elderly grand-mother who had to take her to the health facility. Mary the CHV took interest in the health of Gladys and was the one taking her to the health facility. This continued even after she started school and would pass by Mary’s house every morning and evening from school to eat food and take medication. The challenge was that the parents were a discordant couple hence it was difficult for the father to accept that it was his child. The father was HIV negative. During holidays, she stays with her paternal aunt who according to Mary has accepted her as her own child.
She was informed of her status when she was 9 years in standard two since she kept asking why she is the only one taking medication and not her cousins. Since then she has joined support group of adolescents. Through the support groups she has been sensitized on positive living. Gladys has gone through hard times despite her age, when she was in standard six someone misled her that if she had sex with boys who were negative, the virus would disappear, something that she tried without success and refused to take medication. She got very weak and admitted to hospital and the drugs that were administered on her had bad side-effects that her entire body skin looks burnt and she completely lost her hair. She is now healthy despite the skin condition and her hair is growing again. Mary her CHV talked very fondly of her, she referred to her as her own daughter considering the care she has taken upon herself to care for Gladys since she was young. Gladys has aspirations of becoming a doctor in future as she would like to help the sick regain their health.
Testimony from a couple both of them living with HIV and have a HIV negative child. In Narumoru
Efond Kamau and Alice Muthoni are a couple living with HIV. Efond knew his status in 1999 and since then he has married two wives who have since died. The first one used to get children and they would die, she also eventually died in the year 2003. He married another who died without getting children. Alice too was married to another man who cheated her that he was HIV negative and eventually infected her. When she fell sick and went to the health facility, the clinicians advised her to get a HIV test. The test was positive “I was shocked by the test and immediately confronted my fiancé who ran away. I was devastated and confused and kept to myself until I decided to go to my mother”. It was a difficult time for her, she faced stigma and discrimination from her own mother. “Mum alipojua niko positive, alianza kunipea kikombe yangu, sahani yangu, mototo wangu ako class eight hakutaka nimguze”. “Hata education kwa wazazi na jamii zetu ni muhimu ” Later she met the current husband and learnt that he is also HIV positive. Kamau was determined to have children of his own and when he married the 3rd wife Alice Muthoni, they supported each other in adhering to medication. He was hopeful to have a child and with the advice from the hospital, the wife was able to conceive “Nilikuwa nimepoteza watoto wawili, nilikuwa naogopa hata kupata watoto wengine lakini CHV wetu alitupa mawaidha na sasa niko na mototo mwingine na ako negative” It was at this point that the CHV identified them and Jemimah confessed that she concentrated at the couple to ensure that they delivered an HIV negative baby. “When mapping my house visits, I concentrated on the couple since they wanted to have a child. I wanted to teach them how they can go through the process and deliver a healthy baby. ” She used to visit them regularly and referred them to the clinician who supported them during the ANC visits. Alice described her experience during pregnancy as smooth since she had accepted her status and took the medication as prescribed and the husband is very supportive. They attended all the clinics and eventually gave birth to an HIV negative baby. They have another child in class eight whom Alice had given birth to before she was infected. The couple is mentoring other mothers and couples to encourage them that they are capable of living healthy families as long as they know their HIV status, adhere to medication and follow advice given by the CHVs and clinicians.
