From mere looks, Eliza Kazonga is just like any other woman. Unless you start getting her story through your ears, thought that this Mangochi lady is HIV-positive should only get you while in dreamland. She is healthy and strong.
The 33-year-old Kazonga will tell you that it was in 2000 when her husband’s serious sickness prompted both of them to go for HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT), otherwise known as Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT).
“We both tested positive to the virus, and I have lived with the virus since then,” she says. “I was recommended for anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy in 2004.”
While one would expect Kazonga to conceal such a status, she went public after testing positive and spread the news. But the development attracted what she did not expect. Her husband’s relatives came out guns blazing, labeling her names.
For a while, Kazonga was overwhelmed by fear, fear to repeat her story. She thought the more she openly talked about her status, the more she would attract the interjections. But how far would she have gone? She was HIV-positive first and last, and hiding this status would never have reversed the situation. So she started fighting the fear.
As Kazonga raced from testing positive, to getting the interjections and landing at the decision to fight fear, more and more people tested positive to the virus which causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (Aids). One of them is Isaac Stephano.
“I went for a test and tested positive in 2003,” says Stephano. “I had been feeling very weak, steadily losing weight and suffering from rashes before deciding to go for testing.”
“Breaking the news to my community attracted me misery. They said a lot of bad things about me, labeling me the most evil person in that community. But I was not afraid of repeating what I had said.”
Unlike them, Stephano – who started taking ARVs in 2005 – was steadfast in his mission because he pooled courage from the fact that the likes of Kazonga were already known to be HIV-positive. If they are ridiculed but keep going, who am I not to, Stephano asked himself.
As more people who tested positive but initially concealed their statuses came out to join the likes of Kazonga and Stephano, a block started forming. The more they bonded, the more the philosophy of fear escaped them. Now it was time to confront discrimination.
“We were 13 when we started moving together as a group,” says Kazonga. “We used to go around with volunteers who used us as examples of people who lived positively with the virus.
“But we went our ways because we discovered that the same volunteers who appeared to be using us to encourage people to come out and declare their status went behind our backs and used us as bad examples to their children. We felt that was discrimination.”
That was in 2006. The group named itself Lonjezo People Living With HIV and Aids (PLWHA) Association. And, presumably drawing inspiration from its name, the organisation promised to accomplish one thing: fight fear.
With the philosophy of fear fully concurred, the group believed, those that tested positive but did not openly declare their status would come out. As people see what these people are like, in spite of their status, they would gradually start accepting them as they are. Hence, discrimination would be conquered.
The trick is working. From 13, membership of the group increased to 36 and now there are 73 of them. And the group has moved from one that was discriminated against to one that is the most sought after.
“All those people who do not feel well are advised to come to us. We advise them to go for testing, and when they test positive they become part of our group,” says 45-year-old Anne Chikhadzula, the group’s Treasurer. She tested positive in 2007 and enlisted for ART the same year.
“Because people see how we look, they think we are lying when we say we are HIV-positive. They say HIV-positive people would not look like us.”
Chikhadzula says that the group is today a guiding light. Everyone wants to meet and see them. There is no doubt about this.
At a World Aids Day commemoration ceremony at Palm Beach in T/A Mponda’s area in the district in December last year, people who braved the heat of a clear sunny day and attended the occasion wobbled around looking for even the smallest of shelters from the sun.
But when the Master of Ceremonies announced that it was time for members of the group to manifest their positive living, everybody came out of the shelters, crammed the space around a small circle in which, one by one, the group members stood and narrated their situation.
But in a society where many who declare their status have cried under the force of discrimination, what has openly declaring their being HIV-positive benefited the members of Lonjezo PLWHA Association?
“We have changed the way people here perceive those living with HIV and Aids,” says Kazonga. “We have shown the communities that one who is HIV-positive is just like any other individual as such they should not be discriminated against. We are getting accepted into the community rather than being shunned.”
“Even the church is using us as a good example and is taking part in spreading the HIV/Aids messages.”
Chipped in Chikhadzula: “Communities call us to help them establish Aids-related organisations in their areas. We go to Mangochi Prison to deliver messages about HIV and Aids and the Officer-In-Charge (OC) wants us to be going there regularly.”
She adds that the group has instilled in most people in the area a mentality of doubting those that they see and feel like falling for.
“When they look at us, they don’t see any difference with those that have not come out openly to declare their sero-status or those that do not have the virus.
“So when they hear that we are HIV-positive but look like anybody else, they itch to go for testing with those that they fall for lest they fall for one who is positive. In which process, they know not only their status but also those of the ones they love,” she says.
“Besides, our messages have created knowledge so that in case one wishes to start a relationship with one who tested positive, they should know what they are getting into and how to handle themselves. If I kept quiet, who would know I am HIV-positive?”
The organisation spreads messages about HIV and the benefits of openly disclosing one’s status by playing football and netball games. It also has a counselling committee and has a home-based care programme to assist the chronically ill in different localities.
Apart from spreading the messages that would help those that tested positive but are currently concealing their status to come out, members of the group are also spreading the benefits of enlisting for the anti-retroviral therapy.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Seeing hope through goats
Goats are undoubtedly the most troublesome of livestock. And any herdsperson should voluntarily testify to this. Once loose, goats will not let you sit down and rest. They could lie down one minute and convince you it’s time to rest. But the next minute, the same would be wreaking havoc in people’s gardens or kitchens. That is why they are often on the leash.
But for the people of Kalanga Village in Traditional Authority (TA) Lundu’s area, goats mirror hope. Hope that would take them out of their problems. Hope that would bail them out of poverty. And slightly over a year ago, they vowed that they would not rest until they landed their hands on goats.
“There is a woman in this village whose life has completely changed because of goats. She started with two goats, but they multiplied significantly,” says Thomas Chiphwanya, Malawi Council for the Handicapped (Macoha) community rehabilitation worker for the area.
“She sold some and was able to buy fertiliser for both her tobacco and maize gardens. She has built a very big house from proceeds realised from tobacco sales.”
The said woman is among a group of people who received goats under a pass-on programme a few years ago. The programme falls under Macoha’s Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) in which those in the villages are assisted with the things found in their areas. Goats are some of these things.
Under the programme, each individual receives two nanny or female goats. A billy or male goat rotates among these recipients. After they multiply, some of the kids or young goats are passed on to other beneficiaries.
Benefits of such a programme are what sent a number of people with physical disabilities and guardians of children with physical disabilities in the area itching to be part of it. They did not want to be begging for help each and every day. They wanted to be self reliant.
But for some time, their calls landed on deaf ears. And these deaf ears were very deliberate. Many, including Macoha community rehabilitation worker Chiphwanya, thought that they were a joke. They wanted to test the people’s seriousness.
“We initially wanted to gauge their seriousness on the issue. After observing that they were serious enough, we set up groups in January last year (2008),” says Chiphwanya.
“However, they did not receive the goats there and then because they lacked expertise on goat husbandry. Unfortunately, there was none who was prepared enough to fund their training.”
As such, the groups waited until early this month when Chiphwanya got into contact with the Disabled Women in Development (Diwode). The organisation sourced funding to aid training in goat husbandry for members of the groups.
The funding came from the Royal Norwegian Embassy through the Non-Governmental Organisation Gender Coordination Network (NGO-GCN’s) agricultural and economic empowerment programme. As such, the groups finally attended a five-day training at Linjidzi Court in the area from Monday to Friday last week.
“We feel farming is wealth. So work very hard and take full use of the expertise you have acquired in the five days to enjoy full benefits of farming,” Diwode Executive Director Sigere Kasasi told the participants when she officially closed the training.
Among others, the training focused on how to properly care for the goats with the view of reaping maximum benefits from the animals. Participants also went through a demonstration on how to build a good kraal (khola) for their share of the animals.
As the participants walked out of the court after another session of the training on Thursday, hope shone all over their faces for all to see. They were seeing a new world through the goats.
“With this training we can now see an end to poverty and hunger and our lives completely changed,” said Mustapha Mtendere, chairperson of the Namisu Goat Club which was among the participants to the training. He has a physical disability.
“After some time, we will sell the goats. We will use the money to buy whatever we want at our homes including fertiliser for our gardens. But while we wait to start selling the goats, we will use manure from these goats to maximise harvests in our gardens.”
This gentle song of hope did not come from the mouth of Mtendere only. He just started it. Afterwards, it was repeated by every one of the twenty participants to the training.
Falida Msosa, a guardian to a child with a disability was one of those that attended the training and reflected this song. She said in the goats she saw hope for a rich generation from her household.
“When the goats multiply, we will sell some of them and pay school fees for our children. When these children get educated, they will secure good jobs for themselves. As such, they will be independent and self reliant. They will not be ridiculed for going here and there begging,” she said.
“That aside, we will also use the money to eliminate poverty in our households. With the money realised from the goat sales we will buy whatever we like including subsidised fertiliser.”
Fortunately, the programme is well coordinated such that talk of its failure could only get one who is in dreamland.
Chiphwanya said veterinary experts and officials from the Blantyre Agricultural Development Division (ADD) are well aware of the programme and ready to assist with expertise wherever it is needed.
“Those who receive the goats under the programme are advised to quickly rush to these officials whenever they see something wrong with the goats. It could be a disease, therefore, the earlier they report it to veterinary officials the more the chances of that disease being cured,” said Chiphwanya.
Kasasi said although her organisation was formed basically to fight for the rights of women with varying degrees of disability, who – according to her – were not accepted even by fellow women, it feels obliged to assist all those that need help. The bottom line is that they should be organised like the groups in TA Lundu’s area. That is why the likes of Mtendere had a chance to benefit from the training.
At the moment, a number of herdspersons may keep looking at their goats as the most troublesome of livestock. But the story of people in TA Lundu’s area is presents enough a dimension to tell us that there is more than trouble from the goats.
But for the people of Kalanga Village in Traditional Authority (TA) Lundu’s area, goats mirror hope. Hope that would take them out of their problems. Hope that would bail them out of poverty. And slightly over a year ago, they vowed that they would not rest until they landed their hands on goats.
“There is a woman in this village whose life has completely changed because of goats. She started with two goats, but they multiplied significantly,” says Thomas Chiphwanya, Malawi Council for the Handicapped (Macoha) community rehabilitation worker for the area.
“She sold some and was able to buy fertiliser for both her tobacco and maize gardens. She has built a very big house from proceeds realised from tobacco sales.”
The said woman is among a group of people who received goats under a pass-on programme a few years ago. The programme falls under Macoha’s Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) in which those in the villages are assisted with the things found in their areas. Goats are some of these things.
Under the programme, each individual receives two nanny or female goats. A billy or male goat rotates among these recipients. After they multiply, some of the kids or young goats are passed on to other beneficiaries.
Benefits of such a programme are what sent a number of people with physical disabilities and guardians of children with physical disabilities in the area itching to be part of it. They did not want to be begging for help each and every day. They wanted to be self reliant.
But for some time, their calls landed on deaf ears. And these deaf ears were very deliberate. Many, including Macoha community rehabilitation worker Chiphwanya, thought that they were a joke. They wanted to test the people’s seriousness.
“We initially wanted to gauge their seriousness on the issue. After observing that they were serious enough, we set up groups in January last year (2008),” says Chiphwanya.
“However, they did not receive the goats there and then because they lacked expertise on goat husbandry. Unfortunately, there was none who was prepared enough to fund their training.”
As such, the groups waited until early this month when Chiphwanya got into contact with the Disabled Women in Development (Diwode). The organisation sourced funding to aid training in goat husbandry for members of the groups.
The funding came from the Royal Norwegian Embassy through the Non-Governmental Organisation Gender Coordination Network (NGO-GCN’s) agricultural and economic empowerment programme. As such, the groups finally attended a five-day training at Linjidzi Court in the area from Monday to Friday last week.
“We feel farming is wealth. So work very hard and take full use of the expertise you have acquired in the five days to enjoy full benefits of farming,” Diwode Executive Director Sigere Kasasi told the participants when she officially closed the training.
Among others, the training focused on how to properly care for the goats with the view of reaping maximum benefits from the animals. Participants also went through a demonstration on how to build a good kraal (khola) for their share of the animals.
As the participants walked out of the court after another session of the training on Thursday, hope shone all over their faces for all to see. They were seeing a new world through the goats.
“With this training we can now see an end to poverty and hunger and our lives completely changed,” said Mustapha Mtendere, chairperson of the Namisu Goat Club which was among the participants to the training. He has a physical disability.
“After some time, we will sell the goats. We will use the money to buy whatever we want at our homes including fertiliser for our gardens. But while we wait to start selling the goats, we will use manure from these goats to maximise harvests in our gardens.”
This gentle song of hope did not come from the mouth of Mtendere only. He just started it. Afterwards, it was repeated by every one of the twenty participants to the training.
Falida Msosa, a guardian to a child with a disability was one of those that attended the training and reflected this song. She said in the goats she saw hope for a rich generation from her household.
“When the goats multiply, we will sell some of them and pay school fees for our children. When these children get educated, they will secure good jobs for themselves. As such, they will be independent and self reliant. They will not be ridiculed for going here and there begging,” she said.
“That aside, we will also use the money to eliminate poverty in our households. With the money realised from the goat sales we will buy whatever we like including subsidised fertiliser.”
Fortunately, the programme is well coordinated such that talk of its failure could only get one who is in dreamland.
Chiphwanya said veterinary experts and officials from the Blantyre Agricultural Development Division (ADD) are well aware of the programme and ready to assist with expertise wherever it is needed.
“Those who receive the goats under the programme are advised to quickly rush to these officials whenever they see something wrong with the goats. It could be a disease, therefore, the earlier they report it to veterinary officials the more the chances of that disease being cured,” said Chiphwanya.
Kasasi said although her organisation was formed basically to fight for the rights of women with varying degrees of disability, who – according to her – were not accepted even by fellow women, it feels obliged to assist all those that need help. The bottom line is that they should be organised like the groups in TA Lundu’s area. That is why the likes of Mtendere had a chance to benefit from the training.
At the moment, a number of herdspersons may keep looking at their goats as the most troublesome of livestock. But the story of people in TA Lundu’s area is presents enough a dimension to tell us that there is more than trouble from the goats.
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