New Vision (Kampala) - October 29, 2009
Frank Mugabi

JANET Adania's husband was a wealthy businessman. He was among the famous "Arua Boys", a group of powerful businessmen who wielded financial muscle in West Nile, with Arua as their base. He travelled around the world on business trips and because he had the means, he married eight wives.

Adania recalls that the youngest of the wives persistently fell sick but out of ignorance, people blamed it on witchcraft. In the mid-1990s, the woman died and shortly after, the husband started falling sick.

His other wives gave him herbs and treated his illness as malaria. Out of suspicion, one of the wives, Alice Ralle, stealthily went for an HIV test, which turned out positive. She kept it to herself for fear of being accused of importing the deadly disease into the family.

One day, Adania the first wife, also secretly went to Arua hospital for an HIV test. She accidentally pumped into Ralle at the AIDS clinic at the hospital. Ralle convinced her co-wife to go ahead and test, and the results were positive.

"At that moment I believed I was going to die and though I was counselled, I returned home crestfallen," Adania narrates.

After she recovered from the shock, Adania convinced her third co-wife, Bako, to go for a test which turned out to be positive.

Faced with the grim reality, the three women joined hands and encouraged their husband to test. He was positive. He passed away in 2001 and the other wives also died leaving only Adania, Bako and Ralle.

The three agreed to join an HIV-positive people's support group that had just been formed at Arua hospital, to live longer.

The support group, which was the first in the West Nile region, was a brain-child of Rose Atibuni. She formed the group in 1991 when she tested positive after her husband got bedridden.

"By then there was a lot of stigma against people living with HIV, especially women," Atibuni explains. "It was never the man to blame.

Everybody believed the women were responsible and when their husbands died, the women would be chased away from their marital homes with nothing."

She says she realised the need for women to have a platform to share information and support each other. While seeking treatment, Atibuni met three other women, Helen Agasiru, Beatrice Draru and Sarah Angucira, whom she convinced to join her and form a support group.

Initially the group members met under an acacia tree in front of the administration block in Arua hospital compound. From these meetings, the women started visiting each other at home to encourage their affected families.

Since people did not know how AIDS was spread, Angucira was sent away from her husband's home. The group intervened and she was resettled at her parents' home.

The number of members meeting under the tree grew. Dr. Jacinto Amandua, the then Arua hospital medical superintendent, mentored the group and engaged them in outreach programmes.

Unfortunately, Atibuni's three co-founding members passed away around the same time. However, she remained strong, leading the group with messages to stop further infections.

Pleased with the impact of the group, other development partners like Save the Children joined to strengthen the members' capacity.

Atibuni convinced the donors to build a resource centre for the group outside the hospital environment where they could reach out to more people and conduct more activities.

Currently the centre, which is about 3km out of town, is a centre for peer counselling, crafts making and a rehearsal ground for community outreach interventions through drama.

Atibuni revealed that she wanted to introduce the first telephone counselling service in the region but finances have been a limitation.

Adania, who is known as aunt at the centre, says the group has not only given them moral support but also helped them earn income.

"Sometimes I feel weak but when I go to the centre I feel rejuvenated. Here we share experiences. We also get income to manage our affairs," she says.

Adania says with the income earned, they have managed to contribute bride-price for their sons to marry. "We were never accepted. We were treated like outcasts but now we are educators for the masses," she adds.

Hellen Candiru, commonly known as 'life must continue', because of her messages, said as the support group they were able to lobby for ARVs which benefited many people in rural areas.

Jane Candiru commends Atibuni's honesty which, she says, has helped to keep the centre growing. "She could have diverted the money donated by Germany for personal interests. Rose is morally upright and a flexible leader," Candiru said.

Bako recalls that when she tested positive in 1994 she walked in rugged clothes because she saw no meaning in life. "One day Atibuni met me and said: "You are still living and have your dignity, please dress well," which she says changed her attitude about life.

At Mvara Senior Secondary School where Atibuni teaches, the students and teachers say she is an inspiration. In the staffroom, a poster with Atibuni's picture carries messages like: 'However hard it maybe, you should continue with ARVs in order to prolong your life and work well', 'Live responsibly,' and 'Just like the virus doesn't rest, I too don't rest'.

Okot, a teacher at the school, recalls that when he had just joined the school, he saw Atibuni coughing a lot and got concerned. When he asked her she told him that she was HIV-positive and advised him to strive to avoid contracting the virus.

He says he has got to know a lot about HIV from Atibuni who holds sessions with students and members of staff to share her experience.

To the students she emphasises abstinence while to the teachers, faithfulness and condom use. "Her candid talk has made an impact at the school that everyone strives to remain safe," Okot adds.

After listening to Atibuni's sessions, one student was able to reveal that he was born with HIV.

Comfort Paculal, the Straight Talk Club chairperson, and Rita Ajidiru, the former chairperson Aids Awareness Club, said the students take Atibuni's advice seriously.

"Her message to everybody is to stay safe because AIDS is incurable and wherever you go this message rings a bell in your mind," Paculal noted.

Name: Rose Atibuni | Age: 52 | Location: Mvara S.S and NACWOLA office in Abirici village. | Impact: Founded the first AIDS support group in West Nile. | Target: To see an HIV free world | Education: Bachelor of Education | Contact: +256772440602 | Email: atibunerose@gmail.com

Do you know anyone who has played an important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS in their communities? Nominate the person, indicating name, phone contact and what the person has done in his/her community to help people PREVENT HIV infection. Also give your name and phone number. Write to: The Features Editor, The New Vision, P.O Box 9815, Kampala. or email: feature@newvision.co.ug

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