Stories of Hope
Over the last two decades, EGPAF has helped to foster an irrepressible new emotion in those infected and affected by HIV:
hope.
Thanks in part to the research, advocacy, and programmatic work we do, children and families living with HIV around the world are no longer forgotten. HIV-positive women can give birth to healthy children who are free of the virus. What's more, children and adults living with HIV can lead long, healthy lives.
EGPAF invites you to meet some of the people who are directly benefiting from our programs! Read their inspiring and courageous stories below.
January 13, 2012
Amos and his son, Yohana. (Photo: EGPAF)
My name is Amos. I am 49 years old and I live in the Tabora region of Tanzania. My wife Janeth is 38 years old. Together, we are blessed with five children: Bahati (21), Alex (19), Martin (15), Helena (13), and Yohana (4).
In 2006, when Janeth was pregnant with Yohana, she visited an antenatal care clinic at Kitete Hospital in Tabora where she was tested for HIV.
She was very upset. When she came back home so sad, I realized something was wrong.
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January 13, 2012
Caroline. (Photo: EGPAF)
My name is Caroline, and I am 46 years old. I live in the Tabora region of Tanzania, where I run a food catering business.
I was married in 1985, and my husband and I were blessed with two children. My firstborn, Maria, was born in 1986, but she died of malaria in 2009. My second child, Astrid, is now 21 years old and works in South Africa.
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December 15, 2011
Domingos, Clara, and their son.
(Photo: EGPAF)
My name is Domingos, and I have been married to my wife Clara for 15 years. We have four beautiful children – two boys and two girls. My wife first discovered she was living with HIV while she was pregnant with our youngest child. The nurse at the clinic counseled Clara about HIV, and recommended that she be tested.
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October 26, 2011
Rose. (Photo: James Pursey)
I have five children--but it should be six. Before my last was born, I had a miscarriage after suffering from an illness while pregnant. It turned out that I was HIV-positive. My husband, Jimmy, and I were very sad and I told him to get tested too. He was positive as well.
After time, I felt much better and we decided we wanted another child. But we were scared because of our HIV-positive status.
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October 19, 2011
Ruth. (Photo: James Pursey)
My name is Ruth. I am 39 years old and am the mother of eight children. I am a member of the Family Support Group supported by the STAR-SW project at Ibanda Hospital in south-western Uganda.
I found out I was HIV-positive after my seventh child, Sharon, fell ill when she was six years old. When I took her to the hospital, she was tested for HIV and we were informed that like me, she is HIV-positive too.
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October 19, 2011
Jane. (Photo: James Pursey)
My name is Jane. I am a hairdresser who lives in Ibanda district, southwestern Uganda. My husband is a motorcycle taxi driver. We have been together for seven years. We have a five-year-old son named Daniel and a six-week-old daughter we call Princess.
I found out that I was HIV-positive during an antenatal visit in 2006, when I was pregnant with Daniel.
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October 5, 2011
Sister Liza. (Photo: Jon Hrusa)
My name is Sister Liza. I am the head nurse at the Tlaseng Health Clinic in Rustenburg, South Africa, a city northwest of Johannesburg. I have been working at Tlaseng since 1997.
HIV and tuberculosis (TB) are very big problems here and our clinic is extremely busy. We serve about 12,000 people from the community, including many orphans and vulnerable children.
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October 3, 2011
Tiny (right). (Photo: Jon Hrusa)
My name is Tiny. I am 56 years old, and I am the founder and manager of the Badirammogo Caregivers organization in Mogajane village, Rustenburg, North West Province, South Africa. Badirammogo, which means “working together,” has been in this community since 1997.
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September 12, 2011
Sabina. (Photo: James Pursey)
My name is Sabina, and I am 35 years old. I live with my husband Patrick and our four children in Busangi Village, Kahama District, Tanzania.
I work as an embroiderer and make beautiful patterns on cloths. My family and I also depend on our family farm to make a living. We plant rice, maize, and cotton.
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September 12, 2011
Erick. (Photo: EGPAF)
My name is Erick and I live in Kilema ward of Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. I am 48 years old and a secondary school teacher.
In 1998, I became severely ill. I was very sick with fevers, coughing, and headaches, and was admitted at Lugalo Military Hospital. At the time, not much was understood about HIV in Tanzania, so the doctors only treated me for my fever and cough.
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