Africa-Press – Uganda. In 2003, Ms Margaret Nakayiza was living the life of her dreams. She had just remarried and all was well until 2008 when she developed health complications.
Ms Nakayiza suffered from recurring fever and started losing weight. She thought she had malaria but a test ruled that out.
“I decided to go to Masaka Regional Referral Hospital to test for HIV/Aids because the fever was persistent. The results were shocking. I was HIV-positive,” the 50-year-old narrates.
Ms Nakayiza, a resident of Nyendo in Masaka District, was enrolled on antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), but shortly after, her husband abandoned her after learning of her status.
“I felt neglected and stressed. No one could encourage me to take drugs and out of despondency, I started skipping ARVs, which put my life at risk,” she says.
She became sickly and was unconscious for two years. Ms Nakayiza also lost her sight and her skin started peeling off.
Her condition worsened when she started facing stigma from her family.
She left her family and rented a single room in Kikoni, Lwengo District.
“I was blind and needed a caretaker. So my in-law gave me a child to stay with me. I would inconvenience my neighbours and landlord,” Ms Nakayiza recalls.
Sinking in hopelessness, she contemplated suicide. “I wanted to take poison and die. At one time, I sent a child to the shop to buy for me tomato pesticide, and I kept the bottle under my bed,” she says.
Her plans were halted when she tuned into a radio programme that highlighted the plight of disabled people living with HIV/Aids. “The programme dislodged my suicidal thoughts. One of the panelists said she was blind and living with HIV/Aids. I wondered how a blind person can be hosted on a radio talk show. I contacted the association the following day,” Ms Nakayiza says.
The following morning, she asked her landlord to help her call the Masaka Association of Persons with Disabilities Living with HIV&Aids (MADIPHA).
“The man who picked the call told me they are based in Masaka, he told me they had a drama activity in Kinoni [that week] and asked me to meet them,” Ms Nakayiza says.
Mr Dick Bugembe, the chairman of MADIPHA, says Ms Nakayiza turned up very early and was enthusiastic to join them. The team started visiting her and with the help of counsellors, Ms Nakiyiza was back to her feet.
Mr Richard Musisi, the MADIPHA executive director, enroled Ms Nakayiza into their drama group and taught her mobility skills. Three months later, Ms Nakyiza would travel to Masaka City without aid.
“After intense counselling, we started sharing her story on our websites and our social media, which attracted funders,” Mr Musisi says.
In 2011, Ms Nakayiza was elected as the MADIPHA vice chairperson, a position she still serves in today.
Mr Musisi says one of the project monitors, Ms Esther Kwaku, picked interest in Ms Nakayiza’s story.
“She visited MADIPHA and asked to meet Nakayiza. Ms Kwaku promised to mobilise funds to help Nakayiza advance her ‘Magaret’ project to set up a modern poultry house and build her a house,” he adds.
Ms Kwaku mobilised friends in the United Kingdom, and in 2019 they bought a plot of land where they have constructed a two-room house and started the poultry project, which is now estimated at Shs800m.
Ms Nakayiza advises disabled people living with HIV/Aids not to lose hope but keep taking their medication and live positively.
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