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work Mbuya Rozaria Marumisa-Dizha had taken in her life.
She had a large heart and took in disadvantaged children into her home and single-handedly fed and sent them to school.
She is an unsung heroine who has seen her work continue.
It was for this cause that a trust was set up in her honour and today, her doors are still open to the Murehwa community despite the fact that she has gone to rest.
Just the way she would have loved it, the Trust strives to make life bearable for children living positively.
RMT supports people living with HIV/Aids, especially children and young people, in 30 villages of Murehwa district through the provision of education and counselling services, caregiver and teacher training on stigma and counselling, education subsidies and facilitation for visits to health centres for ART therapy.
Last week, the trust in its monthly meeting talked of breaking the barriers of discrimination and stigma that people living positively encountered everyday.
The dialogue was at Mazeyanike School, in Murewa and it stressed the importance of addressing stigma and discrimination to support positive living in communities.
The meeting was attended by 56 people comprising of seven village heads, representatives of churches (Methodist, Family of God, ZAOGA), caregivers (trained by Rozaria Memorial Trust, ZWAAPV), parents and guardians of Children Living with HIV (CLHIV), school heads and secretariat of support groups.
The dialogue mainly centred on the role played by the community as a support system to People Living with HIV.
Caregivers gave ideas of how they could contribute towards care to the infected to offer better living, said Mrs Colleta Zinyama, programme officer of RMT.
The main issues faced by people living with HIV in communities are similar but the rural folk face a battle than their town counterparts.
Disclosure helps the infected to accept and deal with the new life hence should be encouraged as it allows one to move on.
It has been found out that defaulting at times results because one takes medication in secret and when not able to do so at a public gathering one defaults.
However, people living positively have come under a barrage of unfortunate statements as concerning their disclosure and status.
“It is therefore not rare to hear dehumanising statements like these ones on ARVs. (Ava vemapiritsi ava).
“At family or social gatherings one is usually found barred from taking part in all the activities that one used to partake before disclosure,” said the forum.
Be it at funerals, weddings or family gatherings people are not at liberty to have an HIV positive person prepare their meals.
The Murehwa community has not been spared and it was raised that at times people living with HIV are not given a chance to actively participate in some duties like catering at social gatherings.
People living positively are given peripheral duties like sweeping or collecting firewood and the mainstream cooking is left for those who believe they are HIV negative.
People living with HIV raised out their concerns that when they visit clinics they are treated like minors. The nursing staff rarely listen to them but rather they are lectured to.
One noted that in the past before testing HIV positive, the hospital staff gave her an ear and wrote everything down but after testing HIV positive their attitude has changed.
It is like they already know what you are suffering from hence there is no need for you to clarify which is unfortunate.
Going for reviews now appears routine and it is rather the hospital staff talking to them not an intercommunication which it should be.
At hospitals they are often lectured to, and therefore do not have quality space and opportunity to share more information or get full emotional support
“Children living with HIV, especially those who are symptomatic are stigmatised by their colleagues within the school environment and on their way home.
“Awareness programmes to fight stigma should therefore reach out to all children in the school environment,” said the forum.
Ways ought to be found to make these children’s lives bearable and make the community understand that it is not of their own making.
The RMT pays some fees for some children living positively and it is between them and the families and schools concerned to know but the village heads thought otherwise.
Some village heads felt that all children having their school fees paid by organisations like RMT were supposed to be announced at village platforms like “padare” indicating the reasons why they have that benefit.
As a way to empower the children living positively the trust strives to integrate the community leaders, schools, church and the families as they interact with the children on a daily basis.
People living positively have the same human rights as anyone else and are not second class citizens so the community leaders ought to be educated on this.
It is very absurd to have such a suggestion coming from community leaders who must be championing the rights of these people.
The meeting rejected this request and recommendation because it goes against laws and standards related to voluntary disclosure of one’s HIV status and with enough preparedness and support.
The churches role was pronounced as it was seen that it is now playing a more procreative role.
Most of the churches related programmes in the area focus more on the affected families to enable them to provide the necessary social support.
Schools were committed as they found themselves referring children they identified as having health related problems to nearest hospitals and clinics.
Churches also said that they will work hand in hand with other partners to improve the lives of PLWHIV.
Food security was raised as the stumbling block that many families living with HIV positive children faced.
The village heads stressed the importance of household food security indicating that they at times did not have surplus to give the children hence the need to have Zunde raMambo functioning properly.
The trust puts emphasis on the need for self dependency and has a maize field for the support of the families.
Meanwhile, PlusNews reports that three international organisations have negotiated reductions on key first and second-line, and paediatric antiretrovirals (ARVs).
Thousands of people today await to commence ARVs and the reduction will go a long way in addressing this bottleneck.
In Zimbabwe for everyone on ART five more people are in need.
This will see countries save at least US$600 million over the next three years. As a result a once-a-day fixed-dose combination (FDC) pill containing TDF and efavirenz will now cost countries less than US$159 per patient per year. In 2008, low-income countries paid about US$400 per patient per year for the same pill.
Locally, a milestone for those who have failed on first line drugs was reached when the EARNEST-UZ-CRC began clinical trials for those who had failed on first line therapy in April. So far 300 people who had reacted badly to first line ARVs were put on second line therapy.
The trial is still open and is located at the Clinical Research Centre, Parirenyatwa Annexe Hospital along Josiah Tongogara and Mazowe Street in Harare.
Another feat has been reached as Zimbabwe Parliamentarians have spoken on the HIV/Aids pandemic with one voice.
The group made up of Zimbabwe Parliamentarians against HIV and Aids (ZIPAH) have promised to walk the talk in addressing human rights issues in people living positively.
They affirmed that access to prevention, treatment, care and support is a human right. They are to formulate laws and policies in responses to HIV.
They noted the challenges faced by people living positively and the vulnerable and risk populations.
They recommend that the national budget must recommit to the Abuja Declaration of 15 percent allocation of the national budget to health care. With the legislators backing, we could be heading for a new chapter.
Until then, God bless.
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Online Reporter