Sparking light of compassion to PLWHA

By Andualem Sisay

In this give-and-take world, getting a helping hand without having to pay for it is something that you rarely find, especially when you are neglected by everyone you know. But the bright smile that one sees on Mamo Wolde’s face tells a powerful story about the importance of forgiveness for PLWHA. That is because Mamo was taken in by his wife after he left her eight years ago, without telling her where he was going. To make matters worse, it was during those years that he contracted HIV.
Mamo is now 60, but he looks 45. He lost lots of weight due to the bed-ridden disease. But, he smiles like a young child whenever he sees visitors surrounding him in his bed. Mamo is one of the 1.3 million people in Ethiopia living with HIV/AIDS with about 3.5 per cent prevalence rate.
In addition, thanks to the forgiveness and support of his former wife, now he can see the light of hope, though it has made his wife’s life much more difficult. Mulunesh is one the few people in Africa that sparks the light of compassion to PLWHA. Remembering the challenges she faced at that moment, Mulunesh Abera, says: "It wasn't easy for me to accept him back to my house after all these years." she lives on less than one Dollar per day working in a nearby textile factory at Saris area in the capital. In addition to Mamo, she is taking care of a boy from her previous marriage.
Now as she looks after Mamo, Mekdim Ethiopia National Association, which is founded ten years ago by three PLWHA and orphans who lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS, is supporting her. “As I am not getting enough income, I had no idea what to do when I saw him in such a devastating situation. After getting a support letter from
Kebele administration, I was able to get him a free treatment at a government hospital,” she says.
“Of course, what I did to her could be unforgivable, but I had no choice other than turning my face to her,” says Mamo, who had been working as a daily laborer in various construction sites out of Addis Ababa. “I can’t imagine what would happen to me if I didn’t get her forgiveness.” “I had the opportunity to lie to her that I am suffering from other diseases (not HIV/AIDS) and continue the sexual relation that we stopped when I left her eight years ago,” he says. “But, I have to push aside my sexual feeling and protect her and her child, at least.”
The couple has lived together for seven years though they were not able to get a child from the marriage. When he married to her she was raising a three year old boy from her previous marriage. Mamo is treated at Zewditu Hospital for two months as in-patient (sleeping at the hospital). There Mulunesh found out that he is living with HIV/AIDS.
After getting advice from counselors, he begins taking Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) and gets well. But, he took to his bed and couldn’t finish the injections that the doctors prescribed for the opportunistic infections.
The recent UN report on AIDS describes stigma and discrimination, as the main reason for that Africa is home to 91 per cent of PLWHA. So far, 22 million people have died due to HIV/AIDS. That is why finding someone like Mulunesh, who shows real compassion to PLWHA, is not easy.
Expressing his hope to the visitors, “I always listen to the radio expecting to hear the invention of a medicine that cures AIDS 100 percent from a scientist who is blessed by God,” he says.
Though she has not yet took HIV test so far, Mulunesh believes that she is HIV negative and willing to take a test.
In Ethiopia, the number of PLWHA in need of ART was around 280 thousand including 43 thousand children aged 0-14 years, according to the 2005 surveillance. Most of PLWHA in Africa do not get enough nutritious food that they need to effectively use ART to fight the disease.
According to critic, in addition to fighting poverty, Africa needs to work a lot on changing the attitude of the majority of its people towards HIV/AIDS and multiply people like Mulunesh.