Dedan's Story
Akinyi (not real name) is a single mother of four from one of the fishing communities. She separated from her first husband after living a very painful and abusive marriage which left her infected with HIV. Dedan (not real name), who is a 5-year-old OVC, is her last-born son whom she gave birth to with her second husband. It was after Dedan’s birth that she discovered she was HIV positive because Dedan was diagnosed with HIV. This led to a lot of stress and regrets on her part and she wished that she would have just stayed single after her first abusive marriage.
When the household was enrolled with one of our projects, Dedan was so weak from malnourishment and the effects of HIV with very high viral load (VL). After a thorough household vulnerability assessment, a case plan was developed with the help of a community health volunteer (CHV) and the need to strengthen the family economically was singled out as the first priority to address food security and other social needs.
Akinyi was given emergency fund to urgently mitigate social challenges like food security, health and other needs.
After continuous monitoring of the household by the Social worker and the Household Economic Strengthening specialist (HES) who provided skills on how to manage her business, the boy’s health has improved and her mother is able to provide basic needs for the house hold through the business that was initiated by the project business fund. The family is happy and appreciates support they have received from DEVLINK which has given hope and courage to live again. Dedan now looks fit and ready to join school as his peers and to participate in age appropriate games and activities.
Services
Healthcare Promotion, Education
Year
2019
