Strength and Hope – The Grandmothers of Africa
Dr. Lorna Adams, Give a Day supporter writes…There is no doubt. The grannies of sub-Saharan Africa are holding the continent up on their shoulders. I have met so many grannies, and they are the glue that is keeping what is left of the families of this continent together. They are making new families. They incorporate the children of their next door neighbour into their new family group, and the children of their deceased sister’s friend’s daughter, and the children of their grandchildren’s teacher, into their family unit. And then they look in on the children in the home down the street, where there is a 13 year old, raising her brothers and sisters. They are utterly exhausted, at times, with the demands that they have accepted for themselves. But they continue, because, who else will do it? They know there are too many deaths; there is a coffin maker in every town, even if there are not many other businesses. There is always need of a coffin during this pandemic that is HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. And the grannies continue on, caring, loving, doing as best as they can, in a situation that does, at times feel overwhelming.
Grandmother Grace with her grandson, Emmanuel
But, there is HOPE. A recent report, prepared by the WHO with UNICEF and UNAIDS, states that there has been significant progress in care of people living with HIV since the beginning of this decade. This report states that 42% of people in the developing world who are infected, and should be on ARV medication are now on medication. Just a few years ago, there was still debate among AIDS experts about the safety of offering a difficult treatment program to people in areas of the world most affected. Dignitas International has proven that it is safe, feasible, affordable and completely doable. As Jane Philpott has said, “AIDS is outrageous….and solvable”. I’m not sure I entirely agreed with Jane before I went to work in Africa with Dignitas International, but I sure do now.
Published by: GiveADay on December 4th, 2009 | Filed under Give a Day 2009, HIV/AIDS in Africa, Recipient News, World AIDS Day 2009Comment now »
Reflections on the AIDS Epidemic Update for 2009 – Dr. Tim O’Shea
Dr. Tim O’Shea, Give a Day supporter writes…UNAIDS recently released their AIDS Epidemic Update for 2009. In previous blogs I have emphasized how important it is to keep in mind the personal stories behind the staggering statistics associated with this virus. However, reflecting on the information contained in the update, it becomes clear that the numbers do indeed speak for themselves. The overall numbers are jarring; in 2008 there were 33 million people living with HIV, an astounding 2.7 million new infections and 2 million deaths. Looking deeper at the statistics, however, reveals what for me is one of the most outrageous aspects of the HIV pandemic . The burden of this disease is being borne increasingly by the women and children of sub-Saharan Africa. Over 14 million children have been orphaned since the start of the epidemic, and astoundingly 91% of the 430,000 children born with HIV in 2008 were born in sub-Saharan Africa. The fact that transmission of the HIV virus from mother to child continues to occur at such rates at a time when we know how to reliably manage this risk should be a source of shame for the entire international community.
Reading and reflecting on statistics such as these can leave one alternating between feelings of deep outrage and depression, guilt and hopelessness. The scope of the pandemic seems so overwhelming, and the problems so complex that it is difficult to know how to make a difference. That is why it is so essential to learn about the work that organizations such as Dignitas International and the Stephen Lewis Foundation are carrying out. Visit their websites, attend a talk, volunteer, Give a Day. Getting involved with these groups will begin to replace your sense of rage with a sense of purpose, and your feelings of despair with hope.
Published by: GiveADay on November 30th, 2009 | Filed under Give a Day 2009, HIV/AIDS in Africa, Media, Recipient News, Workplace Campaigns, World AIDS Day 2009Comment now »
News from Malawi- HIV/AIDS is “Coming Out”
Dr. Lorna Adams, Give a Day supporter writes…It is becoming clear to me, as I spend more time in Malawi working in the HIV/AIDS Clinic run by Dignitas International, that HIV and AIDS are coming ‘out’ in Malawi. There are posters everywhere, encouraging people to “know your status”. Signs in stores and offices ask people to reduce transmission of the virus by using condoms, and there are education programs in schools about how the virus is transmitted. Posters encourage people to be tested, and there is a significant attempt to reduce the ‘stigma’ of being diagnosed HIV positive.
In the nursing school that is associated with the Zomba Central Hospital and the Tisungane Clinic, I walked by a sign showing two young people, gazing into each other’s eyes, with the caption “AIDS/HIV….if you don’t have it, don’t get it. If you have it, don’t pass it on”. It was quite clear and to the point.
I worked with Alice Kadzanja in Malawi, a nurse who was portrayed in Stephanie Nolen’s remarkable book, “28 Stories of AIDS in africa”. Alice is HIV positive, and supports people in their decision to consider being tested, using herself as an example of someone who was sick, and is now well because of treatment. Alice played volleyball on the Clinic Sports Day, proudly wearing her T shirt which declared “ARV’s are essential drugs for people with AIDS”.
Nurse Alice Kadzanja, Tisungane Clinic, Malawi
I met another woman on a bus, who was happy to have me photograph her with her shirt that proclaimed for all to see that she was on therapy. It is actions like this that reduce the stigma of being diagnosed HIV positive, and encourage people to discuss their risk of infection. The Dignitas Program has allowed many people in the Zomba area of Malawi to understand that AIDS is a treatable disease. In a continent where HIV infection knows no age, socioeconomic, educational, gender, political or cultural bias, this is a remarkable and very important step forward in the fight against this pandemic.
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Jaja Sylvia’s Story
The Stephen Lewis Foundation writes…This morning we accompanied Angela, St. Francis’ capable young Grandmothers Officer, on a visit to one of the jajas (grandmothers) in the community. We drove down Jinja’s bumpy red roads through the village, and came to a house set back from the road. Next door, there was a small barn, which houses chickens and two young calves. In the background, we could hear the bleeting of a goat and the grunting of pigs.
Angela, St. Francis' Grandmothers Officer, on a visit
On the way to Jaja Sylvia’s house, Angela told us more about St. Francis’ grandmothers programme. Although 120 grannies are currently receiving support – through granny groups, school fees, food parcels, the savings and loan programme, medical care, home visits and more – there are many more grandmothers in the community who would like to take part. One of the hardest things, Angela said, is having to turn grannies away because they don’t have the capacity to take on additional women at this time. There are so many grannies who could use the support.
The grandmothers being supported through St. Francis are either HIV positive themselves, or are caring for HIV-positive grandchildren, or both. On average, Angela said, they are caring for 8 or 9 children at home. I was surprised to learn that so many of the grannies are HIV positive themselves – an estimated 70 out of 120 in the group have the virus. HIV infection among older people is not frequently discussed, particularly in relation to sexuality – it is often seen as a taboo subject.
Jaja Sylvia
Jaja Sylvia first came to the St. Francis Health Centre in 2006. After caring for her adult children through the final stages of AIDS, she had seen the disease and the toll that it had taken on their lives. When she began to fall ill herself, she went and got tested at the centre, and learned that she was HIV-positive. St. Francis provided counselling, antiretroviral drugs and food parcels for her family, and her health began to improve dramatically. Today, she says, she is strong and feels healthy.
Sylvia was among the first grandmothers to be supported by St. Francis. She has lost four children to AIDS, and is now caring for five of her orphaned grandchildren, ranging from age three to fourteen. All of the grandchildren in her care are attending school – except the youngest, who is not yet old enough – and St. Francis is paying for their school fees. Jaja Sylvia is part of a local granny group and has been taking part in the group’s savings and loan programme. A few months ago, she was able to take out a loan of 100,000 UGS (about $50 CDN) to buy much-needed medicine and supplies for the new calves on her farm. She was able to repay the loan (plus 20% interest) within a month, and is assured future income and sustenance through the milk of the young calves.
"There are so many intelligent children," says Sylvia, "We want them to grow up to be whatever they want to be."
In August 2006, Jaja Sylvia was one of a few grannies chosen by St. Francis to participate in the Grandmothers’ Gathering in Toronto. She spoke of the excitement of meeting grandmothers from Canada and from across Africa, and to learn that she was not alone. “It was very encouraging to learn that grandmothers across Africa were facing the same challenges,” she said. After returning home to Uganda, Jaja Sylvia helped to set up the grandmothers programme at St. Francis. With funding from the Stephen Lewis Foundation, they began starting groups, giving out loans for income-generation, providing counsellors and paying school fees. As a result, she said, there has been a big change in the community.
Jaja Sylvia asked me to pass on to the grandmothers of Canada that she and her fellow jajas are grateful for their support and solidarity, and that it has made a difference in their lives. She hopes to meet more Canadian grandmothers in the future – perhaps at a future Grandmothers’ Gathering.
Her hope, like so many other grandmothers in the community, is for her grandchildren to be able to attend secondary school, and university or vocational training. “There are so many intelligent children,” she said. “We want them to grow up to be whatever they want to be. We want them to be good people – educated, disciplined. We want the same as everyone else.”
Published by: GiveADay on November 24th, 2009 | Filed under Give a Day 2009, HIV/AIDS in Africa, Recipient NewsComment now »
Update from Malawi – Dr. Lorna Adams – Elizabeth and Innocencia
Dr. Lorna Adams, Give a Day supporter writes…My very special watch, given to me as a birthday present six years ago by my children, stopped working during my first week of volunteering in the Tisungane HIV/AIDS clinic in Malawi. That my watch was broken upset me deeply, made me miss home, and got me thinking about birthdays. With a start, I realized that when I received that watch, 6 years ago, I had already outlived the projected lifespan for most Malawians. With a shudder, I understood that my watch was older than many children could expect to live if they were born with HIV and did not receive antiretroviral treatment (ART). That quickly put an end to my concern about a watch, and put my work in a very different perspective.
This week, I saw the devastation caused by untreated HIV infection, and learned the stages of progression to full AIDS. I learned how to classify a patient, depending upon their symptoms and their CD4 count, into a ‘WHO’ (World Health Organization) stage of illness, from 1 to 4, that allowed decisions to be made about appropriate treatment. I was able to see that, in the Tisungane Clinic, care and treatment can be offered to all who need it no matter how many people were in the line up. I started my first patient on antiretroviral treatment, with guidance from the Malawian nurses and Clinical Officers who so efficiently and helpfully taught me the ropes.
Staff at the Tisungane Clinic.
I was able to sort through the lifeline of heathcare here, the Health Passbook, a health record that every Malawian carries to all medical visits.
Malawian Health Passport
I could see their CD4 counts and read about previous opportunistic infections that are a sign of HIV, such as shingles or fungal infections of the skin, and determine if a patient should be started at that point on ART (Antiretroviral Therapy). And so we started Elizabeth, a 30 year old mother of 9 year old Innocencia, on medication. They had walked miles to the clinic, and Elizabeth was so thin that I think the child with her was more than half her weight. She received counseling about her medications and possible side effects from the counseling team, supplemental nutritional aids from the nutrition team, and finally, was taught again how to take her medicine, every morning and every evening, m’mawa and madzulo, 6 am and 6 pm, for the rest of her life. There is no doubt in my mind that she will, and because of Dignitas, she will soon be well enough to care again for the child that was caring for her.
Published by: GiveADay on November 16th, 2009 | Filed under HIV/AIDS in Africa, Recipient News, Workplace CampaignsComment now »
News from Malawi – Dr. Lorna Adams
Dr. Lorna Adams, Give a Day supporter writes… I recently spent 3 months working in Malawi and Zimbabwe, in HIV/AIDS Clinics in both countries. I was able to see, close up and personal, what your support of the Give a Day campaign is able to accomplish on the ground and in action. I would like to tell you a little about my work in Malawi, with Dignitas International, and some personal stories from the field. I have seen what a Difference a DAY can make, and it is incredible.
Tisungane Clinic, Malawi
My first day at the Dignitas Tisungane (‘Let’s Work Together’ or ‘Hope’ in Chichewa, the local language) HIV/AIDS Clinic was quite overwhelming. Dignitas, as a matter of principle, employs many local workers. From the Clinical Officers, who function almost as physicians, to the nurses, the lab technicians, the volunteers, the expert patients, the drivers, the cleaners, the lunch ladies, the IT staff and all the other support staff, I was exhausted just trying to remember the incredible number of names of the people I was introduced to.
Head Nurse Chrissie Gondwe, TB Clinic
And then, the hundreds and hundreds of patients, waiting in lines for hours for either their first assessment, to find out if they are HIV positive or not, or their counseling session prior to starting antiretroviral therapy. Others were coming for their follow up appointment, to see if they are having any side effects or problems with their medicine, and then, receive their life saving medication for another 2 weeks, or month or longer. It certainly took me a couple of weeks just to get oriented and find my way around the clinic since it is a very large area in order to service thousands of patients.
Patients at the Tisungane Clinic, Zomba District, Malawi
Next week, more stories from the Dignitas International HIV/AIDS Clinic in Zomba, Malawi.
Published by: GiveADay on November 6th, 2009 | Filed under Give a Day 2009, HIV/AIDS in Africa, Media, Recipient NewsComment now »
Be a Part of the Solution
Dr. Tim O’Shea, Give a Day supporter writes…In my last post I talked about the importance of remembering the personal stories behind the staggering statistics that describe the HIV/AIDS pandemic. I have seen firsthand how much of a difference these personal stories can make. In 2006 my mother attended the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s grandmothers conference in Toronto as an observer. Hearing the African grandmothers describe the realities of their day to day existence literally changed my mother’s life. Since that time she has started a grandmothers group in our hometown and has helped this group to raise over $80,000 in just over two years. Somehow she manages to find the time to do all of this while continuing to be an enthusiastic and loving grandmother to her own seven grandchildren. So, you see, the more we learn about the people that this disease is affecting, the more we learn that they are grandmothers, sisters, sons and daughters just like us, the harder it is to look away. Similarly, as we learn more about the people working tirelessly to end this pandemic, it makes us want to join the fight, to be part of the solution. Give a Day provides a way to add your voice, and your resources, to the ever expanding group of outstanding people working to make a difference, like my mom.
JoAnne O'Shea
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Give a Day Campaign Passes Half a Million!
The 2008 Give a Day Campaign has passed the $500,000 mark and money is still coming in! We are completely humbled by the tremendous support of everyone who is a part of this movement. This money will make a real difference to those affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa and both Dignitas International and the Stephen Lewis Foundation are truly grateful for your support.
We would love to hear from you if you have stories to share about the campaigns you participated in this year, and we are already busy planning for Give a Day 2009! In the meantime, please ensure that any remaining cheques or cash are forwarded to the recipient foundations as soon as possible.
Once again, thank you so much for your support!
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A message from Stephen Lewis about Give a Day
Click to view Stephen Lewis speaking about the Give a Day Campaign and the incredible impact donations can have on the lives of those suffering from HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Published by: GiveADay on November 15th, 2008 | Filed under HIV/AIDS in Africa, Recipient News
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