The Sunday Mail
OVER the past three decades, researchers have explored various aspects of the impact of the HIV pandemic.
Tatenda Zinyemba
One focus area has been children who have lost their parents to AIDS.
Less attention has, however, been given to children raised by parents living with HIV.
This group has become much bigger as more people have access to antiretroviral therapy and are, therefore, expected to raise their children.
Our research in Zimbabwe looked at the effects the HIV status of parents had on their children’s education.
In Zimbabwe, the current HIV prevalence rate among adults is about 13 percent. In 1997, it was at its peak, at 29,3 percent.
Nevertheless, Zimbabwe still has the sixth-highest HIV rate in the world.
Eswatini has the highest rate (19,58 percent) and South Africa ranks fourth (14,75 percent).
Our research focused on mothers in Harare who had access to treatment.
We were interested in the impact of HIV on their investment in their children’s education.
We conducted interviews at Mashambanzou Care Trust, a local non-profit organisation that provides care to about 5 000 HIV positive low-income individuals in Harare.
Thirteen HIV positive mothers were interviewed to discuss the key factors behind the disruption of their children’s schooling.
We found that the HIV status of low-income parents in Zimbabwe severely affected their children’s education in four ways.
Firstly, HIV worsened the financial barriers parents faced when trying to get their children educated.
Secondly, children missed school because they needed to take care of their sick parents or siblings.
Thirdly, sick parents were not involved with their children’s academic achievement because they were physically, mentally and emotionally incapable of helping.
Lastly, children of HIV positive mothers did not always have birth certificates, a major barrier to school and exam registration in Zimbabwe.
Financial barriers
The research showed that HIV in Zimbabwe is not only a health issue but also a socioeconomic problem that can force people into poverty traps.
HIV positive women expressed the view that the economy, their partner’s health and their own health affected how they supported their children’s educational needs.
We found children with parents who could not afford to pay school fees or buy school uniforms.
They risked being sent home until the payments were made.
Other low-income families also experienced this, but parents living with HIV could not work and so it was more difficult for them to pay school fees.
HIV-affected families could also face the burden of raising other children from deceased or ill family members.
Some of the mothers had siblings and close family members who had died of AIDS.
In one case, a single HIV positive mother had three biological children and three orphans from relatives.
Missing school
Girls were particularly affected because they were expected to care for siblings, help sick parents with daily activities such as eating and toileting, and make sure they had a place to live and food to eat.
Mothers spoke about the heavy burden their daughters had to bear.
“My eldest child was the one who took care of me and cooked for me,” said one mother.
“When I got sick, my daughter stopped going to school.
“She is the one who took the responsibility of taking care of me.”
Some children were forced to drop out of school to earn an income.
“He dropped out of school after finishing his Form Three,” said another.
“He is currently selling bananas at Mbare and the money he is getting is not enough.
“Most of the time, he brings home some food after selling bananas.”
No time to help
Most HIV positive mothers said they do not spend time with their children because they will be engaged in income-generating activities, attending to their own health or their husband’s health.
These tough conditions lead to even more illness and stress.
“All my seven children stay at home, none of them is in school right now,” another one said.
“Each day of their lives is difficult as in some cases, we fail to get some food to eat.
“After having failed to get food for the family, it then stresses me more as the mother.
“Given my condition that I am HIV-positive, I end up getting continuous headaches and sometimes I get sick as a result of the stress.”
Birth certificates
Some HIV-positive parents were too sick to obtain birth certificates for their children.
Without these documents, children are at risk of being sent home and cannot benefit from programmes that target poor children.
One mother recounted her experiences in efforts to get birth certificates for her children in Mutare, almost 300 kilometres away from Harare.
“I once went to Mutare to secure birth certificates for my children,” she said.
“I was told to bring my national identification card, which was in Harare during that time. I am yet to go back to Mutare and collect birth certificates for my children.
“I am only being stopped from travelling because I am currently sick and undergoing treatment.”
Looking to the future
Our research highlights a vulnerable group of children that should also benefit from social assistance programmes which target HIV-affected orphans, given that their parents are too sick to care for them.
They should be included in the National Orphan Care Policy, which seeks to provide basic protection to orphans and vulnerable children, and the Basic Education Assistance Module, which pays school fees for this group of children. — theconversation.com
Tatenda Zinyemba is a researcher in economics, health and governance at the United Nations University.
