New Vision (Kampala) - October 11, 2009

"Knowing I was HIV positive, was equivalent to being told I was dead and buried. I wondered how I was going to look after my family! But an 'angel' came into my life. That was the end of my crying. I had resurrected," he says.

Resurrected indeed he looks. Juggling his business and community meetings, Muto no longer thinks about death. He wakes up early in the morning to do his daily chores.

He is just one of many people Edith Kataike has trained, to take the message of the fight against HIV/AIDS in the community.

These people move ahead of her, sensitising the local people, as foot soldiers in front of their commander. As dusk sets in, the well-built and healthy Muko is still chairing one of the HIV senstisation meetings in his village of Mbiko-Kansanga zone.

Confidently, he speaks of wiping out the scourge. "Gone are the days when we used to fear this disease. Today, we can easily avoid it," he confidently tells his village mates.

Twelve years after her husband's death, Kataike realised that she was HIV positive. That was six years ago. "I was terribly shocked. I was a poor woman, yet at that time, ARVs were very expensive," she says.

Luckily, her cousin managed to enroll her on treatment within a short time. By that time, ARVs cost sh150,000, for a month's dose. She had three children to look after, but had no assured income generating projects.

She decided to join a network of women living with HIV/AIDS in Jinja. The group pioneers include Maj. Rubaramira Ruranga, who has been living with HIV for over 20 years; having publicly announced his HIV status on World Aids day in 1993.

Kataike, alongside Ruranga, and other HIV - positive people sensitised people against the scourge in Masese, Budondo, Walukupa and Rippo sub- counties.

The group, she says, grew to about 400 people in just one year. In 2003 and 2004, it expanded with the backing of the Joint Clinical Research Centre, which had opened a branch in Jinja.

One of the HIV positive teenagers, a beneficiary of the senstisation programmes in the area, says Kataike's group has greatly helped them fight HIV stigma.

"Most people living with HIV/AIDS have greater hope. Credit should be given to Kataike and her friends," she says.

Last year, Kataike and other HIV-positive women and men formed a network of 46 HIV support agents. The network which Kataike coordinates, works in 18 hospitals and heath centres.

Their role is to follow-up on all HIV-positive people who have declared their status. "We ensure that these people get medication at the right time. That they channel their complaints through us," Kataike explains.

The group also senstises the general public against contracting the HIV/AIDS virus. Every Monday and Tuesday, these support agents are found at health centres talking to the community.

Kataike also visits schools, fishing communities and villages, to spread the message about HIV/AIDS preventive methods. She has also trained many to senstise their colleagues about the disease.

"Kataike has been very incredible. She is very informed on HIV/AIDS. She continuously refers patients to us. Most interesting is that she uses her resources to do most of the HIV-related work.

She challenegs most of us," says Dr. Shem, who works at Momba Health Centre, Jinja district headquarters. Visit any school in Jinja and the pupils will surely attest to knowing Kataike's advice on HIV/AIDS prevention and care.

Much as she has made strides in the HIV/AIDS fight, she still does not find it easy.

"I sometimes find myself cash-strapped. This means I have to walk long distances to meet my clients," she says. She dedicates some of the little money she gets from selling produce to the HIV/AIDS fight.

Much as ARVs are supposed to be freely given to patients, Kataike says some HIV-positive people still find it hard to access them.

She proposes that the Government carries out mass testing of people. "There is need to have more people tested because many are HIV-positive and are not aware of their status," she says.

HIV infection, if diagnosed early, can be treated to reduce morbidity from opportunistic infections to prolong life.

She argues that knowing your status, even if you are infected, may be less stressful for some people than the anxiety of contemplating on your HIV sero-status.

FACTFILE

NAME: Edith Kataike | AGE: 45 years | IMPACT: Helps in fighting stigma, supporting HIV positive people, and senstising communities and children on the HIV scourge. | QUOTE: All of us can make a contribution in the HIV fight, however little it may be. | CONTACT: 0782 577 701 (kataikeedith@yahoo.com)

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