Niza, aged 6.
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Niza, aged 9
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Poor health and lack of money are two of the biggest barriers to accessing education. Without education individuals get stuck in a cycle of poverty - as they get older they are unable to get better paying jobs and support their own children.
Niza comes from a low income household, living with his sister and Mother and surviving on K30/ day income (less than $100 per month). Niza's grandfather was arrested when his mother was just a child, meaning she was never able to go beyond grade 4. With limited education her ability to generate income for the household is also limited. Niza's father died when he was just a boy and his mother is reliant on her older children and other relatives to support Niza and his sisters education.
When Niza was first brought to TTF, aged 6, he was incredibly sick, very malnourished and missing a lot of school. He was put on treatment and nutiritonal support and his health significantly improved. However he never knew why he was taking medication. At the begining of 2016, aged 11, he started to lose weight, and was picking up regular infections. When the staff at the clinic began asking questions his mum admitted he had been pushing back on taking his meds and not taking it as regularly as he usually did. As he didnt know why he was taking his medicine he was asking a lot of questions which his mum didnt feel prepared to answer.
Niza comes from a low income household, living with his sister and Mother and surviving on K30/ day income (less than $100 per month). Niza's grandfather was arrested when his mother was just a child, meaning she was never able to go beyond grade 4. With limited education her ability to generate income for the household is also limited. Niza's father died when he was just a boy and his mother is reliant on her older children and other relatives to support Niza and his sisters education.
When Niza was first brought to TTF, aged 6, he was incredibly sick, very malnourished and missing a lot of school. He was put on treatment and nutiritonal support and his health significantly improved. However he never knew why he was taking medication. At the begining of 2016, aged 11, he started to lose weight, and was picking up regular infections. When the staff at the clinic began asking questions his mum admitted he had been pushing back on taking his meds and not taking it as regularly as he usually did. As he didnt know why he was taking his medicine he was asking a lot of questions which his mum didnt feel prepared to answer.
"I LOVE DRAWING AND MATHS SO WHEN i GROW UP I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO BE AN ARTIST - BUT MY MUM WANTS ME TO BE AN ACCOUNTANT" NIZA, AGED 11
In order to support his mum in explaining to him he is HIV+ we enrolled her in our early disclosure programme, where we provide care givers the information and tools they need to share witht their child their status. Early disclosure of status is shown to reduce the risk of a child not taking their medication correctly as they become a teenager.
When Niza was informed of his status he had a lot of questions so we enrolled him into our childrens support groups. He quickly settled into the support group, where he asked a lot of questions and learned a lot about HIV, stigma, discrimination and began to make friends with his peers. And to support him in boosting his immune system we provided him with 3 months of nutritional support. Six months later Niza is doing very well. He is medically stable and fully understands about HIV and the importance of taking his medicine to stay healthy.
Being medically stable means he can go to school, and get the education he deserves, so that when he is older he can get a good job and grow up to live his dream of being an artist!
When Niza was informed of his status he had a lot of questions so we enrolled him into our childrens support groups. He quickly settled into the support group, where he asked a lot of questions and learned a lot about HIV, stigma, discrimination and began to make friends with his peers. And to support him in boosting his immune system we provided him with 3 months of nutritional support. Six months later Niza is doing very well. He is medically stable and fully understands about HIV and the importance of taking his medicine to stay healthy.
Being medically stable means he can go to school, and get the education he deserves, so that when he is older he can get a good job and grow up to live his dream of being an artist!
Niza, aged 11
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