When my husband died because of some diseases related to HIV, I thought I had lost everything. At that time I didn’t know about HIV, and my younger child and I tested positive for HIV. When I saw my son was seriously ill with TB, I felt he would die very soon. I didn’t know where I would go for medicines and other support. I really got angry with my husband who gave us this disease. My daughter is ‘negative’, so I know my in-laws will take care of her.

I thought of killing my son and committing suicide. But when I met the PWN+ team in hospital, I felt there was something good in store for my child. They helped me in going and getting medicines for my child. Now I can see my child is very active and all the neighbours love him. When I started to go to the PWN+ centre, I could see that there were a lot of women like me. Many women and children get support through referrals and government schemes. Now I also get a widow’s pension and education support for my girl.

Also, I learnt from the centre how to get an income. Now I do embroidery work with dresses and make money from shops. From that income my children and I are getting good nutrition and medicines. Now my in-laws are also supporting me. I feel there’s no need to worry even though we have HIV. We can live positively as normal people.

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