Fatma Swalleh: "Our relatives took everything after my mother's burial"

Fatma Swalleh, 24, lost her mother, the only parent she had ever known, six years ago to HIV/AIDS. Watching her mother indulge in heavy drinking while denying her status made Fatma's life miserable, but the responsibility of caring for her three younger siblings and bedridden mother strengthened her resolve to volunteer to care for HIV patients.

"I was born in a single-parent family and our mother took the responsibility of bringing us up together. I think, due to the frustrations of bringing us up, she indulged in heavy drinking and spending time with numerous men whom she used to bring home. She refused to reveal to us who our father was despite constant nagging from us.

"It was while I was in the third year of my secondary education that I started realising my mother was getting sick. She used to cough frequently and rashes started to appear on her body. I pleaded with her to go to the hospital but she refused, opting to buy drugs instead. I could see my mother was living in denial of her status and I prodded her to go for an HIV test, but she threatened to throw me out of our house.

"When she became too sick some of her colleagues at work helped us take her to hospital, where she was diagnosed with HIV. She later became bedridden and the responsibility of caring for her fell on me as the first-born.

"When she died, I took up the responsibility of caring for my siblings from nothing, as our relatives took everything belonging to us after my mother's burial.

"The kind of experience I saw my mother go through during her illness, and the experience I went through while caring for her, gave me the resolve to train in Home Based Care (HBC) to volunteer my time to do the same for others.

"I got training from the Kenya Red Cross and since then I have been a volunteer HBC provider in Mpeketoni in Mombasa. I get a lot of inspiration doing this job because I believe it is a better way of spending my time.

"I almost got into prostitution after listening to stories from my friends who are in the trade, and the kind of money they make from it. But I believe I am doing a good job with my time, even though most of them feel I am a fool."

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