FOUR women living with HIV-AIDS – all members of the Tuyakula Self-help Group – tell their stories.
* INGRID (32) found out about her HIV status in 2001. She is the mother of two sons, the elder of whom is a healthy nine-year-old.But her seven-month-old baby boy is also infected.Her family know her status and has accepted it.At first it was difficult for them but then she pointed out that she is much healthier than her uncle who has cancer and her mother who is suffering from asthma and obesity.Ingrid is not taking anti-retroviral drugs yet but hopes to start a course of them, supplied by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, next week.When she first found out she was HIV-positive, her boyfriend left her and she lost her job.She was very lonely and saw no future until she joined Tuyakula where all the women have the same problems and can support one another.When she is nauseated or depressed they understand because they go through the same things every day.She is the group’s head gardener.Ingrid’s message: “A person living with HIV has to always think positive, and only then can we make a difference”.* REINHILDE (31) has a healthy boy aged seven.But she became infected in 2000 during pregnancy, and her three-year-o
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