STORIES OF CHANGE: This is a miracle baby! August 2011 By Pamela Angwech, Director, GWED-G Gulu Women’s Economic Development and Globalization (GWED-G), in partnership with GlobeMed at Columbia University, is implementing a project on HIV prevention for war-affected communities from Amuru districts in the parishes of Agwaryugi, Palema, GiraGira, Coke, Oboo, Lacor, and Pagoro. The communities in Northern Uganda suffered massively from the impact of conflict and internal displacement for over Franny, GWED-G health worker, speaking to Zainab’s child first born living with HIV/AIDS during a home visit 20 years. The region now faces the challenge of overcoming a HIV/AIDS epidemic in an already volatile post-conflict environment. This year, GWED-G launched a massive HIV prevention campaign and conducted blood screening for multiple communities. The project promotes family planning for couples, conducts education on the importance of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), and provides antenatal care (ANC) visits to young women and expectant mothers. GWED-G conducts referrals and works with men as role models in promoting HIV prevention within their community settings. Adong Molly, a 30 year-old who lives in Olwal Village, attended the awareness and sensitization campaigned organized by GWED-G since this project’s inception. She attended the PMTCT education sessions, and was counseled by GWED-G social workers. At the time, she was already pregnant and was advised to continue attending the PMTCT programs at Olwal Health Centre. Adong Molly later on delivered a healthy baby girl with the help of skilled mid-wives. Afterwards, she continued to test her baby’s status, and the baby tested negative for HIV/AIDS twice. Molly is determined to keep her baby alive with supplementary feeding. She said that while she sometimes can go without a meal, she will always secure milk for her baby. Molly is benefiting from the livelihood initiative to generate income and improve nutrition for her family. She said, “If it were not for GlobeMed’s support, my child wouldn’t have survived. This is a miracle baby! And with my income-generating activities, I will be eating nutritional food with my baby girl.” Just like Molly, Zainab Apio from Palema Village was mobilized by GWED-G Community
Mobilizers, and attended similar workshops on HIV prevention, PMTCT, and ANC. After receiving counseling from GWED-G several times as an expectant mother, Zainab told the staff that she was HIV positive. During home visits, GWED-G learned that she already had an HIV positive child attending school. This young girl was being discriminated against at school, because her mother was already known to be HIV positive. This affected her daughter’s involvement in extracurricular activities and ability to succeed in school. Thus, she came home as young as she was and confronted her mother, not knowing that she too was infected. After testing confirmed her status, she has been put on antiretroviral treatment; however, Zainab lamented that if GlobeMed support was to arrive at such a time before her girl was born, she would have been born free of the virus. Zainab’s second child has been born under the program, and was confirmed HIV free. The story of Jenifer Atoo is a little bit touching, despite the joy in her face for her newborn baby living free from HIV. Jennifer currently lives in Amii Lobo Village with a 6-month-old baby, and has been assisted by male role models as part of GWED-G’s programs. In 2009, Jenifer testified that soldiers raped her in the company of her mother and cousin while they were in their garden. She said two soldiers saw them coming back home and stopped them, raped the two of them while her mother was made to stand and watch at them. They both contracted AIDS. She got pregnant and later on had a miscarriage because of her poor health. She conceived a second time years later, and now attends GWED-G counseling sessions. The team recommended that she join the PMTCT workshops at Kaladima health centre, the place where she eventually gave birth to a healthy baby girl. In this region the number of women living with HIV giving birth each year is high, and the prevalence of HIV infection among pregnant women is also high. ANC coverage and skilled attendance at birth are low. Coverage of HIV/AIDS testing and counseling among pregnant women requires massive attention to improve the uptake of antiretroviral prophylaxis by pregnant mothers. The communities of Amuru District believe that GlobeMed support is timely. The knowledge gained has saved many lives, including not only newborns, but also the youth who are now living faithfully, accessing critical education, and looking forward to the healthy futures ahead of them.