Greta is one of our teenage girls in the sponsorship program who is also currently fighting HIV. These
days she is studying at one of the best schools in the Buikwe region.
How has it started and what is the story behind?
“My mother had died of AIDS. Both, Mum and Dad had been fighting with HIV for a long time. My father is now on medication, but my mother wasn’t, and that was the major factor in the cause of
her death. She left us with my siblings who are older than me and able to take care of themselves. However, I was just 7 years old, so I was bequeathed to the care of my father, who was struggling
financially. I was feeling sick and weak almost every day, but my dad was not able to provide funds to take me to for a medical check or pay my school fees. However, my Dad has a friend who agreed to
accept me into their school, while my father obtains the funds for my school’s fees. In school my lifehas improved.
The director of the school told us one day that we would host some visitors. It was the organisation Health Initiatives Association (HIA). They came to our school to do preventive testing. They took blood tests from all the pupils. It was at this time when I tested positive for HIV. HIA promised to take care of me on medical side and pay for my school fees as well. They started giving me a different kind of medicine, but I did not know what they were for. I was too
young to understand my disease. Anyhow, I loved the hair that white people have, so my Dad told me, that the medicine was going to make my hair grow like theirs, (the hair of “Mzungu”). Therefore, I persevered on taking drugs properly. My health improved and I could no longer became ill, which made me settle in class and achieve good results.
Taking the medication has also benefited me by the fact that if someone meets me, they cannot tell that I am HIV positive. I don’t feel out of place despite my HIV status. I know I have a lot of possibilities to do things better due to the courage gained from my medication and the counselling I’ve received from the doctors. This encourages me to adhere with my treatment properly, to achieve my goals and have a bright future.
Thank you, Health Initiatives Association, for changing my life.
Greta