Intranet

Donate

Careers

Action Africa Help International
  • About Us
    • AAH-I in Brief
    • Milestones
    • Senior Management Team
    • Country Management
    • National Boards
    • International Board
  • Our Work
  • Where We Work
  • Our Impact
  • Publications
  • Contact Us
Action Africa Help International
  • About Us
    • AAH-I in Brief
    • Milestones
    • Senior Management Team
    • Country Management
    • National Boards
    • International Board
  • Our Work
  • Where We Work
  • Our Impact
  • Publications
  • Contact Us
Action Africa Help International
  • About Us
    • AAH-I in Brief
    • Milestones
    • Senior Management Team
    • Country Management
    • National Boards
    • International Board
  • Our Work
  • Where We Work
  • Our Impact
  • Publications
  • Contact Us

Man stands strong in the face of HIV/AIDS

October 6, 2016 by admin in News

He is a living example of how persons with HIV and AIDS can lead normal lives, be steadfast and be in the forefront in the fight against the disease. Joel Lupinda, 43, from Wapamesa Village in Kawambwa district, Northern Zambia is a strong ambassador of the HIV and AIDS fight. He often carries a cheerful smile.

For more than two years, Lupinda has actively supported persons living with HIV and AIDS. This is through visiting, counselling and replenishing their medication. Moreover, he encourages other community members to seek Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) services.
Lupinda is an advocate of Elimination of Mother-to-Children Transmission (EMTCT) – a service that provides expectant mothers with drugs so as not transmit the virus to their unborn children. Lupinda and his wife Lillian Chola, 34, are beneficiaries of the service. “My wife and I have three children. They are HIV negative. In fact, we want to have one more child,” he says, with a broad smile, of his children born by a mother who is HIV positive. The couple was provided with information about EMTCT by AAH Zambia.

The affable man got to know about his HIV positive status five years ago. Two years later, he joined Wapamesa Community Action Group and in 2014 he became an inspirational speaker on HIV and AIDS. The support group helps people who have tested positive to adhere to antiretroviral therapy (ART) – this is a combination of medicine that suppress the HIV virus, and resultantly prolong the lives of the people who live with the disease.

Through the home visits by the group’s members that are supported by AAH Zambia, Lupinda is able to talk boldly and openly about his status and offer encouragement to others to seek VCT services.

“It has not been easy, especially in a rural setting, to openly talk about HIV and AIDS and how one can live a normal life with the disease,” he says. But through regular home visits and health education on issues pertaining to HIV re-infection, prevention, Antenatal Care (ANC) – a routine health care for expectant mothers, EMTCT and family planning after delivery, he has managed to sensitise hundreds of community members about the disease.

He sometimes collects antiretroviral drugs on behalf of sufferers that are too weak and unable to access them due to long distances to ART centres. “I visit newly-enrolled clients on ART who are still struggling with stigma and discrimination. I talk and encourage them to share their HIV status to people they trust as a way of relieving their burden,” he explains. The more one talks about his or her status openly, the less stigma he/she encounters. As a result of his open discussions about HIV and AIDS, Lupinda is able to share his experiences at various fora, without fear or shame, and be a pillar of inspiration.

AAH Zambia, with support from Positive Action Children Fund (PACF), is running a Community-led Prevention Initiative (COPI) project in Kawambwa district, Luapula Province. The two-year project supports interventions on ANC, family planning, reproductive health messages and teenage pregnancies. It has benefited over 10, 000 community members, since it was started in 2014.

March 6, 2018
SHARE
  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google +
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Linkedin
  • Vkontakte
  • WhatsApp
News Archives
  • November 2021 (1)
  • August 2021 (2)
  • May 2021 (1)
  • March 2021 (2)
  • July 2020 (6)
  • June 2020 (4)
  • May 2020 (1)
  • March 2020 (1)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • August 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (4)
  • April 2019 (3)
  • March 2019 (3)
  • February 2019 (3)
  • January 2019 (4)
  • December 2018 (5)
  • November 2018 (7)
  • October 2018 (10)
  • September 2018 (6)
  • August 2018 (6)
  • July 2018 (4)
  • June 2018 (4)
  • May 2018 (4)
  • April 2018 (7)
  • March 2018 (5)
  • February 2018 (6)
  • January 2018 (8)
  • December 2017 (51)
  • November 2017 (12)
  • October 2017 (2)
  • September 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (2)
  • June 2017 (3)
  • May 2017 (4)
  • April 2017 (2)
  • March 2017 (5)
  • February 2017 (2)
  • January 2017 (4)
  • December 2016 (1)
  • November 2016 (11)
  • October 2016 (1)
  • September 2016 (1)
  • August 2016 (3)
  • July 2016 (1)
  • June 2016 (2)
  • May 2016 (8)
  • April 2016 (2)
  • March 2016 (6)
Get Social
Copyright © Action Africa Help International
  • Procurement Notices
    Categories
    • Careers
    • Corporate News
    • Events
    • Kenya Impact Stories
    • News
    • Op-Ed
    • Uncategorized
    • Videos
    Cart