Uganda: HIV-positive mom inspires peers by sharing her life experiences as a peer educator (UNFPA)

| August 22, 2022

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Young people find it easy to talk to Rebecca. The 20-year-old woman is not only confident, warm, and knowledgeable, but also does something unusual—she openly shares her difficult life experiences. As a teenager, Rebecca became pregnant, was infected with HIV, and missed out on much of her education. Like the other peer educators working at the Buyinja Health Centre in Namayingo town in eastern Uganda, Rebecca is willing to disclose her HIV status to encourage other young people living with HIV to access the health care they need. In the program, peer educators like Rebecca accompany health workers on visits to schools and community centres, where they deliver information about sexual and reproductive health. They also connect women to services such as family planning, support services for sexual and gender-based violence, and HIV testing.

Young people find it easy to talk to Rebecca. This 20-year-old woman is not only confident, warm, and knowledgeable, particularly about sexual and reproductive health, but she also does something unusual—she openly shares her difficult life experiences.

Rebecca says she has experienced many challenges in her youth. As a teenager, she became pregnant, was infected with HIV, and missed out on much of her education. Like the other peer educators working at the Buyinja Health Centre in Namayingo town in the Eastern region of Uganda, Rebecca is willing to disclose her HIV status to encourage other young people living with HIV to access the health care they need.

The peer educator program is supported by the AIDS Information Centre and Baylor Uganda, a local organization. Their work takes place as part of a larger project that is a partnership between the United Nations and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

In the program, peer educators like Rebecca accompany health workers, often midwives, on visits to schools and community centres, where they deliver information about sexual and reproductive health, and connect women to services. The peer educators also lead group discussions with women and youth to assess the quality of the sexual and reproductive health services they receive. Then, they present their ideas on how to improve health services for youth at meetings of health facility management committees and at community forums.

Rebecca’s work here is essential. In East and Southern Africa, adolescent and young mothers have higher rates of unplanned pregnancies and lower rates of accessing pre- and post-birth care, while some living with HIV may not regularly adhere to treatment regimes. 

In addition, each week, nearly 3,500 adolescent girls and young women in East and Southern Africa are infected with HIV. This is 27 per cent of all new infections across all ages in the two regions and 70 per cent of all new global infections among adolescent girls and young women.

With training, Rebecca is now able to play a key role linking her peers to appropriate local health services to prevent and overcome these sexual and reproductive health challenges. These services include family planning, support services for sexual and gender-based violence, and HIV testing.

Rebecca says she is particularly proud of her work with young mothers, both those who are HIV-positive and those who are not. She says these young women feel more at ease talking to her than the older midwives. 

She explains, “I see how they are suffering. They are shy, and they can’t disclose what they want to [the older women].”

Rebecca focuses on the prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections as well as supporting young people living with HIV. 

She says: “I am able to talk to my peers about the importance of adhering to antiretroviral drug treatment and the importance of bringing their babies [to the clinic] at the correct time to have their blood samples tested.”

One of the main challenges Rebecca faces as a peer educator is helping her peers decide how to disclose their HIV status to their partners. 

She explains, “Many fear that their partner will leave them.” 

Although she encourages youth to disclose their HIV status, Rebecca sympathizes with their situation. She says, “I tell them to first assess how the partner will react. It takes time.”

To help them, Rebecca shares her own experience. She recalls that, after she disclosed her HIV status to her husband, the father of her daughter, he supported her as she began a program to prevent mother-to-child transmission. She says that, although her husband tested HIV-negative, he has been understanding and they continue to live together. As for their child, the seven-month-old has so far tested negative and is doing well.

Besides empowering her peers, Rebecca wants to improve her own life too. She says, “Once I have weaned my baby, I want to return to school. My dream is to be a midwife.”

This story is adapted from an article published by the UNFPA, titled: “HIV-positive teen mum inspires her peers by sharing her life experiences as a peer educator.” To read the full story, go to: https://esaro.unfpa.org/en/news/hiv-positive-teen-mum-inspires-her-peers-sharing-her-life-experiences-peer-educator 

Photo: Rebecca holding an HIV-prevention discussion with young mothers. Credit: UNFPA.