Namibia: Living Positively is a Challenge
by Wezi Tjaronda, New Era (Windhoek), December 2, 2005
NAMIBIA- As much as people living with HIV and AIDS are trying their best to live positively, lack of support remains a problem in their day to day lives.
While some get sick so frequently that they are retrenched from work, others, especially women, have the support they get from their spouses withdrawn once they discover they are HIV positive.
Many interventions on the epidemic focus on prevention and not on care and support, which has brought fears that without support, the infections may rise.
Several women from Windhoek's informal settlements that New Era spoke to on the issue had the same story to tell. Ebba Uzombala's husband left her in 2000, when he was informed about his wife's HIV status. They were married since 1990 and together they have two children, whose responsibility was left to Uzombala.
Kaalina Ekandjo also experienced the same when she was diagnosed HIV positive. "My husband left me but he came back when our child died,"said she, adding that it turned out that the husband was also positive.
The epidemic is still shrouded in secrecy to an extent that women are scared to share their status with their spouses. For Hernnea Rainhard, who was diagnosed positive in 1996, she only told her husband that she was HIV positive in 2004. "He was so upset he took a knife to kill me and himself," she told New Era, adding that she had to take refuge at a women's shelter to remain alive.
For those that cannot accept it, they take their lives.
Twenty-five-year- old Ndahafa Nghinyengulwa's boyfriend killed himself after he was diagnosed HIV positive.
"He called me to his place and started quarrelling with me that I am the one that gave him AIDS. Then he killed himself," said Nghinyengulwa.
She lives on her own in Ombili informal settlement, where she has to struggle to feed herself.
Being in an informal settlement, the young woman says she finds herself drinking sugar water most of the time to be able to take her medication.
"Sometimes I have food but I cannot cook it because I need paraffin to cook, and I have no money," she added.
This and many other problems such as stigma and discrimination face women who are living with the virus and are dependent on support from either their relatives or AIDS support organisations.
Penina Ita, the acting Director of the AIDS Care Trust, says food security is the main concern because over 90 percent of poor women that are positive do not have a source of income, which calls for individuals and private sector organisations to start supporting their own people.
"There are so many people including children on ARVs, but they have no food to eat. Although we give them food parcels, it is hardly enough for them to survive," Ita said.
The trust sometimes goes out of its way to care and support People Living With Aids (PLWHA) but, according to Ita, this can only happen when the donor funded trust has money.
For some women whose husbands have accepted their spouses' status, support in terms of giving them money for basic needs of the households has decreased tremendously. For instance, Rainhard said that after her husband learnt about her status, he stopped giving her money apparently because his salary was reduced.
"He never supported me properly again. He says his salary is now very low," she said. Rainhard has had to take up selling cosmetics to support the family, who along were supported by the husband.
Uzombala also sells beauty products, whose proceeds she uses for her daily needs and needs of her school-going children.
The ACT says people need a lot of awareness to change their mindset to start assisting people in need.
"Our population is so small such that we can support each other.
Instead of buying six cars each, we should adopt families whom they can help," added Ita.
Although many are laid off from their workplaces with the excuse that they are not fit for work, Ita said many PLWHA are fit and could work.
The trust has several women who at the moment are looking for work to be able to sustain themselves and their families.
The trust is also in need of clothes and food, which could be given to those that need them.
NAMIBIA- As much as people living with HIV and AIDS are trying their best to live positively, lack of support remains a problem in their day to day lives.
While some get sick so frequently that they are retrenched from work, others, especially women, have the support they get from their spouses withdrawn once they discover they are HIV positive.
Many interventions on the epidemic focus on prevention and not on care and support, which has brought fears that without support, the infections may rise.
Several women from Windhoek's informal settlements that New Era spoke to on the issue had the same story to tell. Ebba Uzombala's husband left her in 2000, when he was informed about his wife's HIV status. They were married since 1990 and together they have two children, whose responsibility was left to Uzombala.
Kaalina Ekandjo also experienced the same when she was diagnosed HIV positive. "My husband left me but he came back when our child died,"said she, adding that it turned out that the husband was also positive.
The epidemic is still shrouded in secrecy to an extent that women are scared to share their status with their spouses. For Hernnea Rainhard, who was diagnosed positive in 1996, she only told her husband that she was HIV positive in 2004. "He was so upset he took a knife to kill me and himself," she told New Era, adding that she had to take refuge at a women's shelter to remain alive.
For those that cannot accept it, they take their lives.
Twenty-five-year- old Ndahafa Nghinyengulwa's boyfriend killed himself after he was diagnosed HIV positive.
"He called me to his place and started quarrelling with me that I am the one that gave him AIDS. Then he killed himself," said Nghinyengulwa.
She lives on her own in Ombili informal settlement, where she has to struggle to feed herself.
Being in an informal settlement, the young woman says she finds herself drinking sugar water most of the time to be able to take her medication.
"Sometimes I have food but I cannot cook it because I need paraffin to cook, and I have no money," she added.
This and many other problems such as stigma and discrimination face women who are living with the virus and are dependent on support from either their relatives or AIDS support organisations.
Penina Ita, the acting Director of the AIDS Care Trust, says food security is the main concern because over 90 percent of poor women that are positive do not have a source of income, which calls for individuals and private sector organisations to start supporting their own people.
"There are so many people including children on ARVs, but they have no food to eat. Although we give them food parcels, it is hardly enough for them to survive," Ita said.
The trust sometimes goes out of its way to care and support People Living With Aids (PLWHA) but, according to Ita, this can only happen when the donor funded trust has money.
For some women whose husbands have accepted their spouses' status, support in terms of giving them money for basic needs of the households has decreased tremendously. For instance, Rainhard said that after her husband learnt about her status, he stopped giving her money apparently because his salary was reduced.
"He never supported me properly again. He says his salary is now very low," she said. Rainhard has had to take up selling cosmetics to support the family, who along were supported by the husband.
Uzombala also sells beauty products, whose proceeds she uses for her daily needs and needs of her school-going children.
The ACT says people need a lot of awareness to change their mindset to start assisting people in need.
"Our population is so small such that we can support each other.
Instead of buying six cars each, we should adopt families whom they can help," added Ita.
Although many are laid off from their workplaces with the excuse that they are not fit for work, Ita said many PLWHA are fit and could work.
The trust has several women who at the moment are looking for work to be able to sustain themselves and their families.
The trust is also in need of clothes and food, which could be given to those that need them.
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 6:24 am
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