from: Malawi News September 30 – October 6, 2006

BY DEOGRATIAS MMANA

WHEN Rose’s husband died of kidney failure in 2002, the world became too small a continent to live on. The community stigmatized her, hoping that she would die just like her husband.
The community was so convinced that her husband had died of HIV/ Aids. He had suffered for a long time. Her parents were worried about her future. They, too, suspected her of having HIV after the death of the husband.
"I fell sick. I had body pains. My legs swelled. My parents were worried about my health. They suspected that I had HIV," explains Rose, 4I, who lives in Machinjiri.
She secretly went to Machinjiri Voluntary Counselling Centre (VCT) to have her blood tested for HIV, the virus that causes Aids. Her guess was right. She was told that she had HIV.
"I did not get much worried be-cause I had suspected so. I was impressed with my mother who upon getting the news, did not show worry but pledged to support me," says Rose a mother of four children.
Having known her status, she needed now to look for Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) that would prolong her life. She heard of Chiradzulu Hospital as a place where such drugs were supplied without difficulty. She was not helped. A friend of hers, told lieu about another hospital, the Dream Clinic.
Drug Resources Enhancement against Aids and Malnutrition (Dream) is a clinic created by the Community of Sant’ Egidio to fight Aids in sub-Saharan Africa. It takes a holistic approach, combining Highly Active Anti Retroviral Therapy (HAART) with the treatment of malnutrition, tuberculosis, malaria and sexually transmitted diseases.
Rose went to Dream Clinic in May this year. Her blood was tested again. CD4 Count was 150. She weighed 40 kgs. She started getting ARVs. Today, the CD4 is 300. Her weight is 70 kgs.
Generally, an HIV patient starts taking ARVs when the CD4 Count is below 200.
Realising that taking ARVs re-quire a nutritious diet, Dream gives monthly food rations to its patients. Each patient gets eight kilogrammes of rice, and maize flour, two litres of cooking oil, five kgs of groundnut flour, four kgs of beans and one kg of sugar. Perhaps that explains why Rose’s health has improved.
Another client at the clinic is Jane, 33, who comes from Mzimba. She learnt about the clinic in March this year. She knew that she was HIV positive in 2003 after undergoing VCT at Macro. She is not yet on ARVs as her CD4 is reasonable. It was 5I1 in March when she was tested at Dream.
Both Rose and Jane are among the 10 activists that work for.the Dream Clinic. They provide community care and home care services. They are on the pay roll of Dream.
"Activists reach patients who do not have the resources or energy to seek care. They bring care to places that otherwise would never be reached and they ensure that all patients can enjoy their right to health services," explains Dream Project Coordinator Ellard Armando.
Community care and home care services also help to overcome the isolation and stigma that so many patients face and enable them to build a support network involving families in the care and recovery process.
Founded by Andrea Riccardi, Community of Sant’ Egidio came to Malawi in August in 2005 at Mtengowanthenga in Dowa. In April, this year, they opened another clinic in Blantyre at Mandala.
According to Armando, an aver-age of 20 clients per day visit the clinic and I0 of them get accepted into the clinic’s programme. So far there are 600 patients getting free ARVs and food rations at the clinic.
Armando explains that clients at the center enjoy four services. They have free consultation with doctors and at any time, free blood analysis for example determining CD4 and viral load, free ARVs and free food rati