Victoria Msiska is the fourth of six children, living in Mdobe Village, Nkhata Bay North. She originally knew Temwa through the bursary scheme for her school in Usisya where she acted as a youth representative on HIV/AIDS. In Usisya, there is high sexual activity among young girls. Many fear getting pregnant, more than HIV, despite the possibility of disease. However, Victoria sees the danger of HIV/AIDS, and that “it is better to take care of your life because you only get to live once.”
Temwa met with girls from Victoria’s school, where they were able to have an open discussion about HIV/AIDS and shared their personal experiences. After this, the health centre called for another meeting, to provide health services, such as HIV testing, cancer screening and counselling.
Temwa’s work has had a great impact on Victoria, as she now wants to be one of the representatives in helping raise awareness on these issues. She has even been reaching out to her fellows to care about these matters and looks forward to attending more meetings to help girls facing HIV/AIDS.
In Malawi the HIV prevalence rate is at 8% (UNAIDS) – for comparison the UK’s HIV prevalence is 0.1% of the population (UKGov), highlighting global inequality regarding access to adequate healthcare. With such a high nationwide HIV rate, improvements must be made to support youth like Victoria to raise awareness of sexual health.
Malawi has recently adopted a combination of more intensive HIV prevention interventions as part of concerted efforts in the National HIV and AIDS Response aimed at ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
An improved understanding of HIV and AIDS helps community members make informed decisions about their personal health. Health centre data has shown that having access to information from trusted sources helps bring about changes in mindset and behaviour. Temwa’s awareness events help reduce the stigma surrounding testing, and encourage people to find out their HIV status. This messaging is tailored to specific high-risk groups, including young people such as Victoria, fishermen, and sex workers.
“After these engagements, I realised that it is important to be very conscience about life, as life is not free and not about money.”
Read more about our HIV project in the latest report here.