21. Peer Educators Boost HIV Fight in Kenya’s Homabay County

A woman purposefully shuffles through files at a health facility on the south shore of Lake Victoria in western Kenya. Monica Atieno is poring over the individual files of patients to check for those who are due for CD4 tests, to find out whose babies need their first DNA-based HIV tests, and to initiate follow-up of patients who failed to come to their appointments. She keenly checks each file, noting details in a separate book.

Atieno is not a health care worker, but a peer educator. Living with HIV, herself, Atieno helps support other HIV-positive women to enhance understanding around the importance of taking antiretroviral medication (ARV) consistently.

Monica Atieno was once near death from HIV-related causes. A friend helped her decide to disclose her status and seek treatment. Today, she is the mother of an HIV-free daughter and a peer educator.

“I am inspired to see people recover and resume their normal day-to-day activities,” Atieno says.

A recent study by the University of South Africa found fear of discrimination often prevents people from seeking treatment for HIV and AIDS or from publicly admitting their HIV status. With more than 25% of its population living with HIV, Homabay needs peer educators like Atieno to break the virus’s hold on the community. 

EGPAF supports 146 peer educators, like Atieno, and 68 counselors in 92 facilities in Homabay County through the Pamoja project.

Atieno is not new to the stresses that come with being HIV-positive. Several years ago, when she was gradually wasting away, a neighbor visited Atieno several times to try to convince her to take action.

“I had known my status early 2000 when I was pregnant, but I was too scared to disclose or seek treatment,” Atieno says.

After a miscarriage and her husband’s death in 2001, Atieno realized that she, too, could die if she didn’t seek treatment. With the help of her neighbor and friend, Atieno joined a support group of women living with HIV and has since conceived another child. Thanks to a thoughtful peer and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services, Atieno’s 9-year-old daughter is HIV-free.

Atieno is full of life and purpose. Whether reviewing files at the dispensary, educating the community about HIV, or counseling other women living with the virus, Atieno is repaying a friend who showed her the joys that can come through knowledge of one’s own HIV status and adherence to treatment.

A version of this blog was orginally published in Kenya's The Daily Nation.

Because an AIDS-free generation is not just a dream, from November 24 through December 26 we are highlighting 25 ways that EGPAF, our partners, and every-day people are helping and/or can help make it a reality. Pediatric HIV/AIDS is solvable, but we can't do it alone. Each and every one of us has an important role to play.