By:
Bakah Derick, Blogger at Hilltop Voices
Living
with HIV/AIDS is an undesirable condition for many people. Many are reported to
have attempted or even committed suicide after being diagnosed HIV positive.
This reduces the number of people willing to accept their status even with the
availability of Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in treatment centres across the
country.
Commemorating
world aids day on the 1st of December 2013, a group of women took
Menchum division of the Northwest Region of Cameroon by surprise when they
publicly accepted their status and encouraged other people living with HIV to
stay healthy. On the 4th of September
2014, almost a year later, I had a round table conversation with some of these
women who are members of a solidarity group for women living with HIV AIDS.
Created
in 2009, the solidarity group is geared towards encouraging every infected
person in Menchum division particularly women, to face treatment with courage,
stay healthy and contribute to the development of their families and
communities. The group which currently has thirty six members meets regularly
to discuss health, visit one another, and promote savings and loans activities
to do CD4 counts, a routine check-up for people living with HIV AIDS.
It
was very challenging for some of the women to come to terms with their status. For
others, testing positive felt like a death sentence. Today, the women testify
that coupled with love and support from family, being in a solidarity group
with other women with similar challenges is a form of strength and encouragement.
This was the case for Beatrice, a member living with HIV for the past 7 years. ‘I almost killed myself but my family helped
me’ she says ‘Now I am on my drugs
and I am healthy’. For another, ‘It was the counselling and encouragement
from the nurses and doctors that really helped me’ says Martha, woman
living with HIV for 6 years.
Accepting
one’s status and overcoming the fear of death is not the only problem facing
members of this solidarity group. Most of them still bear the burden of
educating their children and ensuring the welfare of their families amidst the
death of their husbands, poverty and challenging health situations.
Thanks
to the support of Plan Cameroon, these women are gradually moving out of
poverty through income generating activities such as rental services with 250 plastic
chairs and 20 tables donated by Plan. It should be noted that as a
child-centred development organization, the welfare of children and their
families is at the center of Plan Cameroon’s activities.
According
to Ewe Elizabeth, health worker and coordinator of the group “the gifts from Plan are expected to be a
source of revenue for the group” she says ‘The profits is kept in a credit union account where members can easily
access loans and pay back with very
small interest’. Feeling
strengthened and empowered by the support of Plan Cameroon, the group plans to
create 11 more groups within the Menchum division and manage them with funds
from Plan Cameroon’s donation.
(*Names
of individuals and groups have been changed)