Prepared by Battenhall,
22 November 2013
Meet Momina
Momina is a 22 year old single mother of two who lives in the
city of Adama in central Ethiopia and was diagnosed as living with HIV three
years ago. Although she wears a smile, sadness is etched across her face when
she talks about her younger son, Yerosa. Born HIV positive, he is now three but
Momina knows very little of his life save for the occasional photos she is sent
by the American family who adopted him. Momina took the agonising decision to
give him up for adoption in the hope that he would be able to receive medical
treatment.
Photo credit: Benjamin Chesterton\duckrabbit\International HIV/AIDS
Alliance
In telling her story today, Momina hopes that she might help
other young women just like her, to know how they can protect themselves from
contracting HIV and get the care and support they need through projects like Link Up being led
by the International
HIV/AIDS Alliance.
Momina’s Story
When Momima was a teenager, she left her family home as she
was afraid that her parents would marry her off to an older man as they did
with her older sister - who later died of AIDS. After falling pregnant with her
first child Rapira, and without the support of her parents, she was forced to
move from community to community, taking temporary jobs where she could, to try
to provide food and shelter for her son.
“I don’t want my child to
starve or get hurt,” says Momina.
Photo credit: Benjamin Chesterton\duckrabbit\International HIV/AIDS
Alliance
“There are times when I feed
my child and I do not eat at all. I sometimes come home late from work, there
are times when I wake him up and feed him because I don’t want him to sleep on
an empty belly.”
Without life being tough enough already, three years ago
Momina was diagnosed as living with HIV. At that time she had no idea that she
was pregnant and subsequently she was not able to receive the treatment needed
to protect her unborn child from onward transmission of the virus. When her
youngest son, Yerosa was just four months old, Momina learned that he was HIV
positive and took the agonising decision to give him up to a family in the US
with the hope that he would receive the medical care he needed.
“I convinced myself that
it’s better to see my child well. If he had not been seriously ill, I would
have not given him away. I would have fought until the end. I am praying for
him to be well wherever he is.”
Living with HIV
Determined not to be defined by her HIV status, even when her
own mother will not allow her into her family home for fear that she might
infect her siblings, Momina remains candid about her condition with friends and
colleagues. But in a country where HIV stigma and discrimination still prevail,
her openness sometimes costs her and she is presently between jobs.
“I do not let myself down
because I live with HIV and have my own objectives.”
Photo credit: Benjamin Chesterton\duckrabbit\International HIV/AIDS
Alliance
“I want to continue my
education and qualify as a nurse. I have always had a passion and love for the
profession and I want to serve people like me, people living with the virus. I
would be happy if I could do that. My biggest aim is to get educated, get a job
and live my own life but at the same time I don’t want to cry over split milk”
Momina is assisted with access to HIV treatment and care by
Ethiopia’s largest NGO working on HIV, the Organization for Social Services for
AIDS (OSSA), who in turn is supported by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance.
Every fortnight she attends a support group meeting organised by OSSA where she
and other members of her community living with HIV meet to share their
experiences.
OSSA have also helped contribute to her son Rapira’s annual
school fee. Momina is determined to see that he gets a good education.
Photo credit:Benjamin
Chesterton\duckrabbit\International HIV/AIDS Alliance
“I wish for him something
much greater than I had,” she says with feeling.
“I hope he can go all the way
and graduate which I was unable to do.”
In another world, life for Momina and her family could have
turned out so very differently. If she had known how to protect herself against
HIV. If she had gone through proper antenatal care when she was pregnant with
Yerosa. If she had not felt compelled to run away from home for fear of early
marriage. If she was able to work freely without worrying about becoming a
target for discrimination.
“I would like people to see
me a strong person,” she smiles. “I know that there is strength in me; I got
that strength from the life I have had. I want young people of my age to be
strong and to have the strength to face and overcome challenges.”
The International HIV/AIDS
Alliance and Link Up
Ethiopia is one of five countries currently being targeted by
the Alliance and its partners through Link Up, an initiative that aims to
improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights of more than one million young
people living with and affected by HIV.
Over the course of the next three years, Link Up will reach
more than one million young people aged 15-24 by implementing tailored HIV and
sexual and reproductive health interventions to increase uptake and access to
services and reduce unintended pregnancies, new HIV infections and HIV-related
maternal mortality. In Ethiopia the initiative aims to reach 140,000 young
people to improve their sexual health.
What can you do to help?
Show your support to Momina, Link Up and the International
HIV/AIDS Alliance by:
1. Sharing
Momina’s story (Click to Tweet) (Share on Facebook) #LinkUp
3.
Follow the International HIV/AIDS Alliance on Twitter
@theaidsalliance and on Facebook
