EFELO’s twist of fate
Efelo mpindeni (Not her real name) is one of the Teen mothers at Pilimiti young mothers club. Before the club was established her drug adherence was poor, she was missing clinic appointments sometimes due to lack of transport money, she was depressed on how to cope diagnosis and she had little knowledge on prevention of mother to child HIV transmission strategies.
After the club was established at the health facility she has benefited a lot. She said “now I am able not to miss my appointments at the clinic due to lack of transport money and I am no longer stressed due to peer support and counselling”. Apart from this she has acquired knowledge from the club on importance of drug adherence and other many important topics.
Her last comment was “I would like to see this club continue and in sustainable way of empowering us with income generating skills in order to be independent, please empower
and train us”.
SARAH’s misfortunes’ U-Turn
My name is Sarah Malinda (Not her real name), 19 years old, not married but have a child who is 1 year 7 months and exposed to HIV through breastfeeding. Before I joined the club, I was worried about my future, I thought my baby will be infected with HIV and I lost confidence of returning to school. As if this was not enough, sometimes my parents could not afford to give me transport money to the clinic so I could miss appointments or walk for a long distance.
After joining the young mothers club my life has changed since I have regained my confidence and returned back to school, no longer missing appointments because of transport refund and the club is conducted on Saturday which doesn’t interrupt my school attendance. I have also made new friends at the club who are my age mates and going through similar situations, with my friends at the club we have developed relationships to share experiences and support one another.
My final words are to thank the people who dedicate their time one Saturday in a month to come and work in the clubs to support our needs. The club should continue and has to start supporting participants who have returned to school like myself with school needs. Reach out other young vulnerable mothers with similar model in other locations.
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