Elizabeth Merola recently visited UNICEF programs in Zambia. In this post, she recounts the experience of visiting a rural health clinic.
The drive to Keemba Rural Health Clinic from the closest town is a long and bumpy ride due to the uneven dirt roads. Looking out the window I see children walking to and from school alongside the road and across fields that are being prepared for the first rains of the season. Cows are crazing and ox carts are transporting people from one village to the next.
When we arrive at the clinic, mothers with their children are waiting for post-natal and prevention of mother-to-child treatment (PMTCT) care. The nurses dressed in white stand out among the women with colorful wraps.
I am immediately drawn to Brenda who is 7 months old and attached to the back of her mother, Rolina. Rolina waits patiently in line for her turn to speak with the nurse. Her calmness gives me the impression that there is no urgency for her visit and she has been in this position many times before.
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| © U.S. Fund for UNICEF/2009 |
| Rolina and Terrance with daughter Brenda. |
Rolina is HIV positive and is enrolled in the clinic’s PMTCT program. She and her husband Terrance married in 2002 and they have three children; Terrance is also HIV positive. Both Rolina and Terrance are doing everything in their power to ensure that little Brenda stays safe and healthy which is not the case for Brenda’s older sister Constance. Constance is 4 years old and HIV positive. Constance is on pediatric treatment which is keeping her strong. Their older brother Clayton does what he can at 7 years old to look after his two younger sisters.
Mother to child transmission (children from HIV positive mothers being infected during pregnancy or delivery) in Zambia is the second most important factor of transmission. PMTCT provides parents with hope but more importantly if the treatment is followed correctly it provides parents with a healthy child.
Terrance and Rolina are leaders in their community. They are open about their status in hopes of making a difference in other people lives. Terrance runs an HIV/AIDS couples support group in Keemba and sees 20-25 couples each week. Rolina adhering to the PMTCT program stopped breastfeeding Brenda at 6 months despite the statement this makes to the community. Mothers who bottle feed their child are questioned and sometimes frowned upon. But Rolina does not get discouraged because she knows that breastfeeding past 6 months increases the risk of her child becoming infected.
Rolina and Terrance walk miles on the dirt road to Keemba Rural Health Clinic so their children will have a future and so they could save other parents from going down the same path.
Comments (1)
This is my country and I was part of this story. I had so much fun learning about UNICEF support and interventions in alleviating the suffering of many women and children in this area. Thanks to the team from USF for the opportunity to work with them.
Posted by Betty Nalungwe | November 30, 2009 4:40 AM
Posted on November 30, 2009 04:40