Eva was a 28-year old mother when we met her in November 2016, living with HIV and Kaposi Sarcoma that had progressed rapidly – due to her not taking her ARV medication properly. This left her in excruciating pain with large wounds in her leg – making her unable to walk.
Initially, we helped Eva with pain management and adherence support to ensure that she took her HIV medication properly. What she needed the most, however, was chemotherapy which she could not afford. Her family had already sold land and kept some of their other children out of school to afford the tests and treatments that she had already undergone (for Tuberculosis, HIV-testing and pain medication) before we found her.
RHHJ supported Eva to get to Uganda Cancer Institute and undergo chemotherapy – the total cost of which was $231. We are happy to report that three years later, Eva is cancer free, happy, healthy and adhering to her ARVs very well. For this reason, at the beginning of 2019, we supported Eva to start a small business, so that she could take care of herself and her son.
Her business has been profitable, and she has bought two pigs with the proceeds. Not only this, but she has enrolled in a course for hair dressing, which is sponsored by a local church. The profits from her business help her to pay for transport, food and other school requirements. We also help to support Eva and her son by enrolling him in our School Fee Programme.
Not only has Eva overcome extreme adversity, and been pulled from the brink of death herself, but she has also become a patient advocate for others like her in the community she lives in. She brought in a patient to RHHJ, who needed palliative care, for us to review. It is remarkable to see someone succeed so tremendously, with just a little bit of help from us.
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