OVERCOMING THE FEAR TO LIVE POSITIVELY

Article published on issue 32 of African Woman (www.africanwomanmagazine.net)
Finding out that you are HIV-positive transforms your life, and often also the lives of people around you. But it does not have to be the death sentence it invariably was in the first days after the virus was identified.
by Claudia Giampietri
 
When she heard that she was [...]

HEALTH SYSTEM STRAINED BY AIDS

Unedited article published on issue 32 of African Woman (www.afrocanwomanmagazine.net)
AIDS epidemic is bringing a lot of pressure on the health sector which is congested and often unable to offer quality assistance. African Woman interviewed Dr Samuel Guma, a Ugandan HIV/AIDS specialist and director of an clinic for HIV positive patients. 
by Claudia Giampietri
 
How does HIV/AIDS affect [...]

ORPHANED BY AIDS

Unedited article published on issue 32 of African Woman(www.africanwomanmagazine.net)
AIDS has shaken the lives of many children and their families. For more than 15 million AIDS orphans, the loss of their parents marks the end of their childhood and the beginning of a life confronted by enormous challenges.
By Claudia Giampietri
 
 Statistics and figures look dull and often [...]

NOERINE KALEEBA, Protector of the Rights of People with HIV/AIDS

Unedited article published on the issue 32 of African Woman (www.africanwomanmagazine.net)
Learning from her own experience Noerine Kaleeba has taught others how to live positively with AIDS. Founder of the first organisation to care for people with HIV/AIDS, Kaleeba has fought against all discriminations attached to the disease
by Claudia Giampietri
”One, two, three, sound check!” I meet [...]

Margaret’s story

Margaret is a 47-years-old woman and works as a drycleaner in her daughter’s shop. “I have nine children and six grandchildren. I produced my children with three different husbands. My last husband and I separated. Now I am free,” Margaret states with a contagious ironic smile. “I do not know how I got HIV [...]

Unhappy ending

Naluwembe was the first HIV patient I interviewed. I portrayed her as a resolute woman full of energies trapped in a desperately thin body. She was overwhelmed by dreams and expectations for the future. Yes, she was. Naluwembe died yesterday night. She was under ARV treatment, but doctors discovered that she did not take the medications. [...]

About Kawembe Home Care Initiative for HIV/AIDS patients

 
The Kawempe Home Care Initiative was founded in 2007 by a group of “devoted health professionals”. They support a community north of Kampala (Uganda) and currently deal with 700 patients.
I am volunteering for the Kawempe Home Care and my task is to interview people affected by HIV and to write their stories which are used [...]

Nassiwa

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nassiwa is crouched on the floor of her home while she recounts her story. She talks with a shy and humble voice always glancing down at the edge of her garment.
Nassiwa is a widow and has to provide for her children and the rent of her house. Her husband died five years ago in [...]

Naluwembe

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
”A small retail where I can sell things is everything I want,” Naluwembe says with the resolute voice of a strong woman, betrayed by her weak and skinny body.  Naluwembe lives in Gayanza area with her two children, her mother, and her brothers. She tested HIV positive one year ago when she was 19 and [...]

Brenda

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Brenda was born with HIV/AIDS. Years had to pass before she discovered to be HIV positive. During primary school she got sick – she was having typhoid fever – and was hospitalised. ”My parents are separated but when I fell sick they came. Then, doctors tested me with HIV. Mum and dad are also HIV [...]

Fred

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Fred is dead.” “Dead?!?” The man cannot believe what he is told and decides to check personally. He finds Fred in his tiny mud house in Kawempe Mbogo area; he is bedridden and very weak, but nonetheless alive.
Fred has been tested both TB and HIV positive in February. When he was told the news he [...]

Nora

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nora does not speak much. She was born with a congenital malformation of the heart which interferes with her speaking abilities. This pushed her to leave the school where she was often stigmatised by her classmates.
Now Nora is a shy 20-years-old girl who lives with her parents in a tiny house with a single room [...]