Mary is a sex worker, currently living in a brothel in Usisya. She is a mother of four children, and the youngest two currently live with her. The money she earns from sex work goes towards supporting her children with school fees and living expenses. 

In 2022, she was diagnosed as being HIV positive. At the time, she was living in Mozambique and was three months pregnant with her son. She then moved to Usisya in Malawi to become a sex worker. Her current partner is aware she is HIV positive and has encouraged her to take Antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Mary has told Temwa that she does not enjoy her work, but wants to be able to support herself and her family. She hopes to save enough money to stop sex work and set up her own business one day.

Mary feels very positive about the work Temwa is doing with HIV. The outreach clinics have enabled her to access ART treatment which is not always easy to do, especially if you have been diagnosed with HIV in a different place. Temwa supports the nearby health centre to ensure people like Mary can access ART treatment so she is very grateful for this.

She was also able to get ART treatment for her young son, which is a required procedure if the mother is HIV positive. After 12 months of treatment, her son now has the necessary antibodies so now longer requires ART and he is HIV negative. 

Mary said she will continue to come to Temwa’s meetings with the sex workers and adolescent girls: “I learn something new every time I come and it is positive to pass on my knowledge to the young girls.”

Read more about our HIV project in the latest report here.

Mary’s name has been changed to protect her identity*