Staying Positive with HIV in Ethiopia

Tsega is a 40 year old single mother with three children who lives in Idagahamus town in the eastern part of Tigray region. She runs a small shop and looks after her children at home and always seems to be wearing a smile.

Business is a bit slow these days but that doesn’t make her feel down. Tsega has learnt that she can overcome many challenges in life.

She lost her husband in 2003. He was a farmer and used to be the only bread winner in the family. When he had gone, Tsega was left with no means of income. She had to sell all her belongings to feed her children, but the money did not last for more than three months. Her daughter Meharit, had to drop out of school from seventh grade and began a waitressing job in a local restaurant.

Amid all this, Tsega started to fall sick and was seriously ill for most of 2004. When she finally took a blood test, she found out that she is HIV positive.

She said, “I had no hope. All I knew was that I was dying. My neighbors were also sure that my days were over.” She could not imagine how she would be able to provide for her children whilst being HIV positive. However that all changed when she got help from a project funded by SCIAF and its sister agencies Trocaire and CAFOD.

She received free health treatment, which helped her to manage her illness. She continued getting counseling services for two years. Tsega also started to receive150 Birr (£6) from the project to meet the basic needs of her family and borrowed 4,000 Birr (£153) to open a small shop. The business now generates 350 Birr (£14) per month and Tsega has already paid off half of the loan.

When she described the roller coaster in her life she said,

“I have seen two times - a horrible time when I was seriously damaged by the disease, and a hopeful time, being able to care and provide for my children.”

She added that she now lives a good life and looks forward to days in the future where her children complete their education and support her.

SCIAF and its sister agencies Trocaire and CAFOD support the Adigrat Diocese Catholic Secretariat (ADCS) which runs a three year community-based HIV project to improve the quality of life of 9,800 people affected by HIV. The project also seeks to improve the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour amongst 30,000 people in wider community to help reduce vulnerability to HIV infection.

To make a donation to help SCIAF’s work click here or call 0141 354 5555.