Two WAMATA member examples

I'm fine now

By Mie Kirstine Rasmussen and Jes Mortensen

10. March 2006

Christine Charlace had an unexplainable rash when she gave birth to her second child in 2004. Her doctor took an HIV test. It was positive. “I got so angry, because I thought there was nothing to do,” says 42-year old Christine. 
At first she was relieved that her newborn was not infected. But eventually the girl got HIV from breastfeeding. She died only eight months old.

Now Christine is alone with her six-year old first born. Her daughter is also infected and they both attend counselling at Wamata. Her husband is, however, leading a new life. “He just said it was my own fault. He left me and married another girl. I think I got HIV from him, but I will never know,” Christine says.

Both she and her child have been very weak. But through Wamata she has now been on ARV medicine for three months. “Now I'm fine. Before I had the ARV I was always weak and very thin, but now I have gained weight. I want to get a real job so I can take care of my child,” Christine says.

She also hopes to get a new husband. But it is difficult when you are infected because of the myths about HIV and AIDS. “Many men think that condoms are infected with HIV. And they say that having sex with a condom is like eating a banana with the skin on,” Christine Charlace says.

WAMATA gave me hope

In 1998 Christopher Mwambene went to the doctor. He was feeling ill and had an idea what caused it. He was right. The results to his HIV test was positive. “I felt very sad. All I knew about HIV was that it is deadly. I thought I was going to die right away,” says Mwambene who is now 62 years old.

The disease has taken its toll on him. He is thin and his eyes are yellowish because of a weakened liver. But he is alive. “Without Wamata I would be dead. They have given me medicine and they have taught me to live a good life with HIV. It has given me great hope to meet people who have been living with HIV for many years,” says Mwambene, who first came to Wamata in 2000.

Christopher has told his family about the disease. But he has felt stigmatised when telling others about it: “People say that HIV infected are sinners. Especially in the small villages people know very little about it. Now I get a lot of respect in my community because I tell them about HIV and people come to me with questions. I advice people to use condoms and get tested,” says Christopher Mwambene.