Simba Abalo, 47, unemployed retired soldier
“I learned about HIV and AIDS in the military. I am not sure how I got infected. My two youngest daughters with my current wife have been tested, but not my 10-year-old son with my first wife. When I first got sick [September 2007] I tried to get on antiretroviral treatment but [state medical purchasing agency] CAMEG told me they were not taking any new cases for six months because they had run out of drugs [ARVs]. Even if they had the drugs, I could not have paid more than US$4 a month since I had just lost my job as a security guard earning $70 a month.
Photo: Phuong Tran/ IRIN |
Tchotcho Adjano |
“I came to look for help mostly for my wife [HIV positive]. Our children are so young. She needs to bein good health to take care of them.”
Tchotcho Adjano, 44, egg vendor
“After I left my husband, I slept with many men. I know that is how I got infected. I am single now, but the solitude does not bother me. I do not miss men. I just want to be healthy.
Photo: Phuong Tran/ IRIN |
Assibi Kanou |
Assibi Kanou, 23, former student
“I was living with my brother who asked me to leave because he said his children would become infected. I am living here at this non-profit where I get medical care [Espoir Vie Togo, translated “Hope, Life, Togo”]. I do not work now.
"If I become healthy enough, I want to go back to my village. They are nice here, but it is lonely. I am on ARVs, but it does not help the loneliness. Do you know when that will hurt less?”
pt/kn/np
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions