The Sunday Mail
Debra Matabvu
FOR Enita Kwaramba, waking up every day is a gift that she never takes for granted.
From the day she was born, death has seemed to lurk in close proximity waiting to pounce at every opportunity.
Enita was born to an HIV positive mother in 1987, years before the anti-retroviral therapy and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programmes were known in this part of the world.
Sadly, she was born with the virus.
Back then, being born with the condition was considered a certain death sentence.
By the time she turned three years old, she had already contracted tuberculosis (TB) several times while her tiny and frail body was covered with scars from injections.
“I started taking TB medication when I was a few months old and that became a routine for the first nine years of my life,” she told The Sunday Mail from her home in Glen View, Harare, last week.
“I have lost count of the number of times I contracted TB and to make matters worse, the pills were taken in large quantities back then and were painful.”
Growing up, candy was substituted for pills and play grounds for hospital wards.
“For a child, this was a traumatic experience,” she recounted.
Only Enita and her elder sister, who was fortunate to be born without the virus, remain alive in her family today.
HIV-related health complications accounted for the rest of her family.
Her younger sibling passed on at the age of nine in 1990, while her mother and father died in February and June 1997, respectively.
Enita and her family were among the first people to be infected by the virus in the late 1980s in Zimbabwe. The first HIV case in Zimbabwe was officially discovered in 1985.
With limited information on how to prevent the spread of the virus and unavailability of scientifically proven therapies, the virus wreaked havoc in communities.
Back then, individuals with frail, sickly bodies and curly hair were associated with HIV/AIDS, leading to stigma.
Owing to widespread stigma in communities, Enita and her family often found it challenging to secure accommodation because landlords and other tenants feared they would spread the virus.
“I did not know I was HIV positive until I was 18 years old. Because of my appearance, the community ‘knew’ I had ‘AIDS’ — that is what it was called back then. So stigma was rife back then.”
Children from the neighbourhood were ordered to avoid her and the rest of her family at all costs.
“This made me a loner,” she said.
Following the death of her parents, Enita moved in with her aunt in the same suburb.
Her life would change in 1998 after visiting Mhondoro for the school holidays.
There, she met Dr Maria Buggiana, an Italian doctor who worked at St Michael’s Hospital.
As a frequent visitor to the hospital, Dr Buggiana offered Enita to stay at the hospital’s orphanage and attend school in Mhondoro.
This was the time when ARVs were just beginning to be distributed in Zimbabwe and St Michael’s Hospital was one of the first few centres to dispense the life-saving drugs.
“Shortly after being placed in the hospital orphanage, more children with the same condition were taken in and by the end of 1998, we were a family of 10 minors,” Enita added.
“1998 marked the last year I suffered from TB. ARVs were sourced from Italy, Dr Buggiana’s home country. We were immediately put on treatment and I started gaining weight. After completing my Grade Seven, Dr Buggiana secured a place for me to enrol at Mutoko’s All Souls Mission.
“It was not an easy journey, stigma was still rife, but I was healthier than I had ever been in my life and I soldiered on.”
Upon completing her O-Level studies, she returned to Mhondoro and became a peer educator where she campaigned for the end to stigmatisation and promoted HIV prevention.
Enita, who was now a healthy and attractive young woman, would have many suitors.
However, most of them would immediately vanish once they learnt of her HIV status.
“I would disclose my status during the early stages of the relationship because I did not want to be left nursing a broken heart after a long relationship. Most of them (suitors) left almost immediately after my disclosure.
“However, in 2009, I met someone (name supplied) who was HIV negative. I told him my status and thought he would leave like all the others. To my surprise he did not back down.”
The relationship blossomed leading to the birth of a healthy bouncing baby boy in 2015.
The child was aptly named Courage.
“Courage is my treatment buddy,” she said, her eyes lighting up.
“A treatment buddy is someone who reminds you to take your medication and that is what he does every single day.”
Courage is HIV negative with Enita having gone through PMTCT protocols during his birth.
For Enita, HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence as it was considered some three decades ago.
“Stigmatisation is still rife. However, it is important for people to get tested, HIV is not a death sentence.”
Official data shows that new HIV infections are declining in Zimbabwe.
There were 47 000 new infections in 2016, a figure that declined to 40 000 in 2019.
The number of people dying as a result of AIDS-related complications has fallen from 23 000 in 2016 to 20 000 last year.
Over 1,2 million living with HIV have access to treatment.
Last week, Zimbabwe joined the rest of the world in commemorating World Aids Day, which was themed: Global Solidarity, Shared Responsibility.
