Posted by Sandy Hutchens
The road to Kabiya village, in the eastern province of Zambia, is red and dusty. Tobacco fields stretch off in either direction. Christine Jere sits on the ground outside her mud-and-thatch hut in Kabiya and tells the story of how she nearly died of AIDS.
At 35 years of age Christine already has three children and three grand-children. She is a widow – her husband died over twelve years ago. In 2002 Christine fell ill. Over the next few years one symptom followed another as her health steadily declined: loss of appetite, unable to sleep, diarrhea, coughing. Her legs swelled up and, with the pain, she could barely walk. With no mobility Christine, the main provider for her family, was unable to participate in that farming season which meant no food for the family.
Christine’s relatives watched with fear as her health collapsed. They tried all they could to convince her to seek testing and treatment but Christine resisted. Then in 2006 an outsider came and tipped the balance. The outsider was Joshua Nonde, a caregiver in CARE’s Home-Based Care program.
Christine admits it was the independent advice and the support Joshua brought that finally gave her the courage to confront her illness. She went to the hospital where she was tested for and diagnosed with HIV and AIDS. Christine was started on anti-retroviral drug treatments.
Recovery was a long, slow process. There were those in Kabiya who insisted the modern drugs would not work and urged Christine to give them up in favour of traditional medicine. Again Joshua and the caregivers were there to give reassurance and support her through the treatments. When she was unable to pick up her medications herself the caregivers got them for her. They helped Christine’s aunt prepare food for the family and clean the household.