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	phelgona atieno jacks


Title and Organization:		Coordinator, Pal Omega positive Group
Gender and Age:		Female, 45
Location:		Kisumu, Nyanza
Country of Residence:		Kenya
Country of Birth:		Kenya
Languages:		Luo



Website:		http://www.freewebs.com/palomegagroup/index.htm
Instant Messaging:		To protect the privacy of members, Instant Messaging information is only available to logged in members of TakingITGlobal. Login or Sign up now, it's free!

About Me

From rejection to a beacon of hope: a case of Phelgon Atieno – Kisumu,

Phelgon Atieno, a 43 year old widow living positively with HIV and a mother of two, lives in Manyatta - a low income estate in the outskirts of Kisumu, a city in western Kenya.
She learnt her sero-status in early 2000 following the demise of husband due to a HIV&AIDS related complication. At that time Phelgon worked as an early childhood teacher at a prominent school in town. Phelgon began suffering from a persistent cough and skin rashes, and as other people suspected her to be suffering from AIDS she was subjected to emotional and physical abuse.
At school the management, fearing the parents would withdraw their children, reallocated her duties cleaning the bathroom where she stayed all day. She was restricted from interacting with the children out of fear that she would infect them. Her health deteriorated and finally she was sacked in October 2000.

Meanwhile owing to her ill health Phelgon faced rejection from her late husbands family, she gave up on life and wished she could die. In 2001 her health deteriorated, she weighed 39 kg, with a CD4 count1 of 27 and was suffering from TB as she lost weight. A friend, Mary Munga, who was also HIV+ came to her rescue and introduced her to the provincial hospital HIV&AIDS clinic. She was too weak to combine ART and TB treatment; the doctors managed the TB first and put her on ART eight months later. The turning point in Phelgon’s life came in 2002 when Mary introduced her to WOFAK, where she joined a support group of women living with HIV. She attended the group’s monthly meetings where she learnt more about HIV&AIDS, was counselled and learnt about positive living from other members who spoke openly about their HIV&AIDS status. In addition WOFAK provided her with monthly food rations and B-immune2 as well. All these improved her health but most importantly bolstered her will to live. To improve her economic mobility she started selling fish in the market, customers shunned her as she suffered from skin rashes and other traders spread the word in the market that she was HIV+, and the business collapsed. All along Philgon and her two boys survived on her late husband’s employment benefits. This was used to meet hospital fees and food requirements, with no other source of income this money was rapidly running out. In 2004, though on WOFAK food rations, she began to experience difficulties in raising the US$8 monthly hospital fee. To overcome this challenge she teamed up with other women attending clinic at the provincial hospital to form a support group. During their weekly meetings they would contribute money that would be given to a member in turn to pay monthly clinic fees. Phelgon’s journey to good health was slow but steady and as a religious lady she always prayed to God to heal her with a promise…’I will work for you’. This became a source of inspiration for all her future undertakings. Buoyed by improved health she brought together women affected by HIV&AIDS in Manyatta and they formed Pal Omega Positive Support group. The group is involved in providing nursing and psychosocial care and support to those affected by HIV&AIDS in Manyatta.
In the course of interaction with members of the group and their children, she realised that just like adults, children affected by HIV&AIDS suffered stigma, and for instance they would be denied entry to pre–school centres. Towards 1 Amount of T-helper cells in the blood, this is the cell that is attacked by HIV, and hence indicates the level of a person’s immunity. Normal CD4 counts in healthy adults range from 500 to 1,500 cells per cubic millimetre of blood. 2 “B-immune” is a product of Africa Dynamics.
It has been formulated to boost immunity and contains beneficial micro-organisms or probiotics and soya protein and L-glutamine. Patients with HIV&AIDS or TB should find this product particularly beneficial as it not only boosts immunity, but also helps to prevent loss of muscle tissue.
the end of 2004 with a loan of US$100 from WOFAK she converted her small house into a pre-school by admitting 7 children of women living with HIV. Luckily in 2005 she was paid her terminal benefits by her former employer amounting to US$136 which she invested in the construction of one semi permanent and one makeshift classroom.

She has attracted support from the local mayor who supported the school with more chairs, toilet facilities, and food. The school performed well and due to her lobbying skills all of the pre-school children were absorbed into the local primary schools. Many parents and guardians developed confidence in the school. Due to public demand in 2006, the school opened its doors to children from wider community who could pay school fees.

Today there are total of 85 children in three levels, out of which 35 are orphans and 19 are HIV+. Currently only 25 pupils pay school fee amounting to US$4.5 per term in full, 17 make partial monthly payments and 43 children are studying at free of cost. This has helped Phelgon to recruit 2 more teachers for the school and to earn financial sustainability. Philgon is paying US$18 to each teacher per month. Picture In order to ensure proper treatment of the infected children at the school Philgon counsels their parents and guardians and links them to several health facilities that provide paediatric HIV&AIDS care. “All the hospitals in Kisumu recognise my work, when I take a child to hospital they know I am serving and therefore I do not queue”, she quips. She liaises with health facilities who give, immunization, anti worm drugs and multivitamins as appropriate.
In addition Phelgon conducts HIV&AIDS sensitization for teachers in other local pre-schools and primary schools to reduce stigma against children affected by HIV&AIDS. Like other volunteers Philgon has to surmount many challenges. Guardians taking care of orphans are overwhelmed and at times lack the will to support the children with education material needs. While some children carry food others don’t have any, she has developed a culture of sharing food carried by some of the children to the whole class, sometimes parents and guardians object it. At the moment the school has one black board and is not connected to clean water. These challenges have not dampened her spirit. Phelgon’s dream is a school with semi permanent class rooms, supply of clean water and a clean toilet. She believes that this will improve teaching learning environment as well as attract more children, which is important to support more orphans and ensure financial sustainability of the school.

Phelgon’s outlook to life is very positive, she is motivated by desire to see her two sons get higher education and take charge of their lives. Thus she follows her treatment strictly and as a result her weight has increased to 72kg with CD4 count of 347. Philgon is one among many unsung heroes in challenging stigma. Rather than complain about the wrongs meted upon her by community, she has opted to live positively and support the community and especially HIV&AIDS affected children lead a quality life. She is a classic example of how micro-credit support to People Living with HIV&AIDS can harness their potential to overcome and eventually stamp out stigma.