“Do Something to Brighten the Future of Your Children”

Linah Vilakati, a 59-year-old farmer in Ndzingeni, a rural community in northern Eswatini, takes pride in having raised to adulthood six healthy and happy children. Eighteen years ago, Linah’s husband died from AIDS-related illnesses, including TB, a common comorbidity with HIV. At that time, their youngest child was just 1 year old while their eldest was 20. The challenge of raising her children and maintaining the fees necessary to keep them in school as a single mother was tremendous, and Linah says is one felt by many widows in poor, rural communities such as hers. 

Several months after her husband’s death, Linah, fell ill. She tested for HIV and discovered that she, too, is living with HIV. Linah knew that she needed to stay strong for her own sake as well as for the sake of her children, so she immediately began antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.  

She says what has kept her strong over the years has been her commitment to her medication and being open to people about her HIV-positive status, making people accept her as she is. Her major motivator has been the understanding that being HIV positive did not mean the end of life. 

She is supported by the Ndzingeni Nazarene Clinic—one of the facilities currently supported by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) through the USAID-funded ASPIRE project. 

“My HIV status did not deter me from standing up and working to make sure that I raise my children and provide them with all the home necessities,” says Linah. She refuses to be underestimated, believing that women have the power to change their fate and play important roles in the community. Her HIV-positive status has not hindered her from also cooking at the local high school to make ends meet. 

“I am happy that am not being discriminated for living with HIV in the community. My children also support me, and they even remind me to take my medication when it is time to do that,” she says. Linah’s message to women living with HIV is that they should not be afraid of disclosing their HIV status and should adhere to their mediation for them to continue to live long. 

“Do not spend your time sleeping just because your husband has passed on. Stand up and do something to brighten the future of your children.”