July 2013 Dear Supporter,
Thanks to your support of ActionAid in Malawi, I can now live an independent and dignified life despite being HIV positive.
My name is Lucia Musaya. I'm 28 years old and I live in Simaeqa village, Salima District in central Malawi. I would like to tell you my story; how I became HIV positive, how it affected my life and how your support helped turn my life around.
It has been a long journey. It started in 2001 when I got pregnant just after I left secondary school. The boy would not marry me so I depended on my parents to help support me and my son. In 2004, I married a man from Zomba [a city in southern Malawi] and we moved there with him. I then got pregnant. After the birth of my child I started getting ill all the time. My husband sent me back to my parents so they could care for me. They decided to take me for HIV testing. In July 2005, I learned that I was HIV positive and started taking antiretroviral drugs. When my husband learned that I was HIV positive he admitted that his first wife had died of an HIV related illness. Just after this, my youngest child started getting ill and died later that year.
I had gone back to live with my husband but he kept pressurising me to get pregnant again. Remembering how ill I had been last time and the loss of my child, I did not want to get pregnant. This made my husband angry and he regularly beat me until I couldn't take it anymore. I told him I could no longer continue with this marriage. Taking just my clothes, I returned to my parent's home.
It was hard fitting into life with my parents. It was also hard fitting back into my community; many people wouldn't associate with me for fear of being infected. A lack of knowledge and understanding led to stigma and discrimination on a daily basis.
It was at this time that I first came into contact with ActionAid and COWHLA [Coalition of Women Living with HIV and AIDS - an organisation that works in partnership across Malawi to support women living with HIV & AIDS] .
I joined the local COWHLA group, with 45 other women, and from that moment my life started to get better. I had training on the importance of eating the right food to boost my immune system. My health has improved a lot and I am able to work in my garden to grow some of the foods I need such as beans and vegetables. I also took part in small business management training and received 49,837 kwacha [£100] to start my own business selling Chitenje [traditional cloth for women worn around the waist or shoulders]. With the profits, I bought two goats, which provide nutritious milk. I have also been able to buy seeds, tools and other inputs to improve my food production.
I now have my own income that I can use to buy good food for my
family and medicine when I am not feeling well. As well as looking after my eldest son, who is now 11, I also care for my younger brother who is 14 and my niece who is eight. They are all going to school.
The other important change in my life is that, through the support
of. my COWHLA group, I am able to stand up against any stigma I face. More people now understand about HIV & AIDS and they are no longer afraid I will infect them. I can freely associate with everyone and take part in all the daily development activities.
Thank you so much for your support of ActionAid and The Next Step in Malawi. Without you, my life would be very different to the independent and dignified one I am living today.
Best wishes,
Lucia Musaya
P.S. I have sent you two photographs. One is of me working in my garden growing maize. The second is of me outside my home with my son and my niece. As you can see we are all healthy and happy.
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