Experts, Not Ancestors

by Tumusiime Loy, Program Coordinator

“I feel my decision has not only helped me, but the entire village!” says Isabiye John. He looks like the businessman he is standing next to his chapati stand situated beneath the towering jackfruit tree at the edge of the bustling trading center and looking smart in a blue and red checkered button up shirt. John is a down-to-earth guy who is eager to learn new things. So, when UVP started offering educational sessions in his home of Muira, he jumped at the chance to attend.

He remembers feeling conflicted the first time he attended a reproductive health sensitization for men; his family has always supported having many children to help earn income and build the family’s wealth, but UVP presented a different perspective, one that aligned with John’s reality – that he was struggling to support his two wives and four children.

 

As a boy, John had a tough childhood. John’s family struggled to support him and his five siblings, so he didn’t attend school and is unab
le to read or write much. When he became an orphan at 14, he worked anywhere he could to provide for himself, and sometimes his employers did not treat him very well. That’s why John wanted to start his own business, so he didn’t have to work for anyone else who might mistreat him. But with the responsibility of taking care of his families, he couldn’t save enough to invest in his dream of starting a business.  

 

As he saw it, modern contraceptive options were the answer he was looking for to keep his families manageable. Since learning about the different contraceptive options, John and his wives have been enrolled in UVP’s family planning program since 2017. With the peace of mind John has knowing he would have children by choice, he began saving to start his business, and in 2019, he started his chapati business, fulfilling a long-time dream!  

 

Like any parent, John just wants his family to be healthy and happy. “I am able to balance my families, spending more time with each child, and I recently noticed that the children have been gaining weight,” John said excitedly. “I needed experts to teach me, not ancestors or anything else. I’m so indebted to UVP for the education that has helped us improve our situation – thank you!” John continued, excitedly, becoming overwhelmed with gratitude to the point of tears.

Support John and others like him by donating to provide contraceptives in hard-to-reach places - do your part to reach 50,000 people with health education and services in 2021! #BringOn2021 #2021HereWeCome 

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From Discordant Couple to Community Influencers

 by Josephine Asio, Program Coordinator

“This was one of the most challenging situations in my entire life - to choose between walking away from a discordant marriage or staying in this home even when I knew that at any moment my husband could infect me with HIV.” Mbeya Marriam, who is HIV negative, is intimately familiar with the unique challenges of living with a partner who is HIV positive.

Marriam was calm and kind; she was gladly hosting an HIV outreach at her home for her neighbors. This house-based approach for an outreach is different than what UVP normally does, but to limit group sizes and ultimately the spread of COVID-19, we were moving house-to-house with the medical technicians and HIV counsellors in Kinu. Marriam has been to nearly every HIV outreach UVP has hosted in her village for the last 2.5 years, but this is the first time I’m getting to talk to her about her experiences.

When she was pregnant with her last child, she and her husband both received HIV tests as part of a standard prenatal care visit. Both of them were shocked to learn that he was HIV positive, but Marriam remained HIV negative. Despite their safe sex practices, Marriam worried deeply for months that her baby would be HIV positive. Going through this brought Marriam and her husband closer together. She helps him to live a health HIV positive life in the open, encouraging their neighbors to test any time an event happens in Kinu.

Relationships like Marriam’s are rare and often not widely accepted in a community. Through their outward support of HIV services, living life publicly as a discordant couple,  and encouraging their friends, neighbors, and family to test regularly, Marriam and her husband’s community support their marriage. “UVP’s outreaches helped me to be brave and share my story with my community. UVP helped to make my life better – thank you!”

Support Marriam and others like her by donating to provide HIV testing in hard-to-reach places - do your part to reach 50,000 people with health education and services in 2021! #BringOn2021

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Big Problems, Cheap Solutions

by Josephine Asio, Program Coordinator

“My children would fall sick, one after the other,” Robert recalls. His wife and six children have spent a lot of time in the local health center. Between transportation to get to the health center and treatment for various ailments, Robert felt as though all his money went to treating his family’s health issues. UVP interns in Bulugodha changed his family's path.

 

At first glance, Robert’s modest home is nothing spectacular, but upon touring the property, I can see the changes that have happened in the last year. I see a newer mosquito net and ask him about it. “I purchased that net from UVP. It was the first change I made in my home,” Robert remembers. It was shortly after a malaria sensitization with the interns that Robert began to understand that one of the reasons he was at the health center so frequently was to treat malaria in one of the eight people in his family. If the $1 net prevented just one visit to the health center, it would pay for itself.

 

After making the connection to health through a mosquito net, Robert began attending all the UVP outreaches to learn other small ways he could improve his family’s health and, ultimately, their financial situation. The next step was to build a proper latrine.

 

As he dug the deep hole needed for a proper pit latrine, Robert realized he could make bricks out of the dirt he was removing from the latrine hole. Since one of his dreams was to build his family a brick house to replace the mud and wood structure they currently lived in, Robert became even more excited to embrace these health changes.

 

“The health situation of my family made me a very poor man,” Robert says, “but since we’ve taken up these cheap solutions proposed by UVP, our health expenses have greatly decreased, allowing me to buy three more nets to have all of my family protected from hungry mosquitos.” I point to a pile of bricks, and Robert beams as he tells me that he has slowly been acquiring bricks and intends to build his family a new home next year, one with brick walls and a sturdy roof that doesn’t leak. “Thanks to the education from UVP, I have been able to improve our lives. I’m so very grateful. Mwebale emirimu, UVP [thank you for your work, UVP]!” 

Support Robert and others like him by donating to provide subsidized mosquito nets and sanitation education - help reach 50,000 people with health services and education in 2021! #BringOn2021 #2021HereWeCome

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