Over the past months on this blog you have read diaries of women who have suffered abuse after they disclosed that they are HIV positive: women abandoned by their husbands, denied access to land, prevented from taking leadership roles, rejected by family members, denied access to subsidized farm inputs and many more.
This is just a tip of the iceberg because it is an open secret that many women and girls are suffering in silence because of their HIV status.
However, it should be recognized that Malawi is making significant improvement in the public’s acceptance of HIV and AIDS, efforts to prevent further spread and mitigate the distress of those affected.
This is why today we present to you the story of a woman who is a living example of how Malawi has come to accept a section of its population once almost outlawed.
Former MYP boss
Miriam Patel hails from Mkalawire Village, in the area of Traditional Authority Mkula in Machinga District in the Eastern Region of Malawi.
Born on November 27, 1961, she did her education up to Standard 8 but she has done a lot in her life including serving in the once dreaded military wing of the former ruling Malawi Congress Party - Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP).
“After I dropped out of school in Standard 8, I joined the Pioneer where I served for three years. I rose up to the position of instructress.
“After left the MYP, I was married to a police officer-in-charge, but the marriage ended just after a few years and I left for my home village”, she recalls.
She had one child from her first marriage.
“While I was living in the village, I got married to another man. His parents however appeared not to be happy with me and marriage did not last long. Again, he left with one child - a boy.
“Subsequent to that I left for Mangochi where I started doing business. I was cooking rice and selling it to traders in the main market at the district headquarters”, she explains.
Then she got married again – a third husband! That was in 2001.
“I become pregnant, but I was getting ill frequently. My legs were becoming swollen time and again because of anemia.
“I had to leave for my home village, but my new husband did not follow me. He ran away.
“After sometime I gave birth to a stillborn. I did not do anything about it. I told myself that it was ‘God’s plan’.
A few months later she seriously fell ill. Coincidentally it was the same time Malosa Community Based Organization (Macobo) was being established in her area.
“The organization was looking for two people in our village to be trained in home based care. I was one of those chosen and I was also trained in HIV counseling.
“Through the lessons I undertook, I convinced myself that I needed to undergo an HIV test because I was frequently bedridden.
“I went to St Luke’s Hospital where I was found HIV positive. But the hospital staff did tell me the results of my blood test I think because they knew I was already an HIV counselor. They just forwarded my forms to Macobo.
“Sometime later the hospital was looking for people to start taking antiretroviral drugs. I gave them the names, but at the end I told them to include my name as well.
“I remember one of our bosses asking me why I wanted my name to be included on the list, but I insisted because I knew they deliberately did not want to tell the results of my blood test.
“Then they added my name to the list and that’s when I knew that indeed I was HIV positive.
A changed society
Miriam was on the first people to start taking live prolonging drugs in Machinga.
“I was one of the first people so much that my number is 4. I’ve been taking the drugs since 2004,” she says.
“In the first days I was worried, but later I accepted that I have to live with it. My parents were also shocked when they learnt that I was HIV positive, but I told them I was not dead. They now realize what I meant as they see me still living today.
“Yes, indeed, previously we faced a lot of discrimination in various spheres. People thought we could not contribute to community development. It was difficult for us to access coupons for subsidized fertilizer, for example.
“But after we enlightened them, more people here now accept those living with HIV just like another person.
“In 2009, I took three traditional authorities to Dowa where we conducted a campaign against discriminating people living with HIV in the distribution of subsidized farm inputs.
“The situation has now changed. We are now given priority”, explains Miriam.
“After being trained in counseling, we were advised to form a group which we called Tagwilizana (United).
“First we sort assistance from the National AIDS Commission (NAC) which provided us with broiler chickens. We were also assisted by the Malawi Social Action Fund which gave us goats which were keeping up to now.
“Then the District AIDS Coordinators came to find out if we were interested to join the Coalition of Women Living with HIV and AIDS (COWLHA). I was the first to be approached and I was among the first women that launched the organization in Blantyre in 2006.
Miriam says she has lived a comfortable life since coming in the open to declare her HIV status.
“I consider myself fortunate because I did not suffer stigma and discrimination as it is usually the case when one declares his or HIV status.
“Some of my friends whom I counseled and told them to start receiving medication were not so lucky. They have been rejected by their family members and some have died because their families stopped them from taking ARVs.
She is thankful that St Luke’s Hospital is very caring. The hospital has a special room where people living HIV receive treatment.
“We go to the clinic on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. We are treated better probably because the hospital is owned by a religious institution.
In some parts of Machinga, our colleagues do not have the same opportunity. For example, in Chikwewu, they have a shortage of nurses. Because of this people living HIV were given only a single day within the week to receive treatment.
“During such days, people with other ailments are not allowed to visit the hospital. This fuels stigma and discrimination because it is easy to notice that those visiting the hospital on that particular day are living with the virus.
It would be better if they were receiving the drugs just like those suffering from any other disease”, she laments.
A call for action
Working under COWLHA, this woman is leading a campaign to end cultural practices that encourage the spread of HIV, such as fisi,(hyena) where a man is hired to father a child in childless family.
With the establishment of COWLHA, Miriam says more women living with HIV in Machinga are now exercising their rights.
Miriam urges all those who have not yet gone for HIV testing to do so. On the other hand she encourages those who are HIV positive to come in the open because that will free their minds and help them live a comfortable life.
She particularly calls on the youth to go for HIV testing.
“These days we have HIV messages everywhere: on radio, TV and newspapers. They should advantage of this to avoid being infected”, she advises, “They should abstain from sex and work hard in class to have a bright future.”
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