Counseling Center Offers Hope for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Rwanda

Joel, a 41-year-old resident of Kigali, Rwanda, became very discouraged and lost all self-confidence after learning he was HIV-positive. As his condition worsened and his body weakened, he did not want to go on living.

In March 2003, he followed a roadside sign to a counseling center for people with HIV run by the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA). Although initially nervous about entering, he relaxed when he received a warm welcome and saw the bustle of activity at the center. 

Since that day, Joel has participated in many SWAA activities.  Through counseling and education, Joel has learned to accept his illness and live positively. Today Joel and his wife – who is also HIV-positive – have improved their quality of life, know how to take care of their health and, thanks to a SWAA-supported micro financing project, support themselves and even save money. 

SWAA is an international organization created in 1988 to work primarily with African women affected by HIV and their families. SWAA's mission is to mobilize communities by strengthening capacity to prevent further spread of HIV and mitigate the impact of the epidemic.  SWAA-Rwanda was created in 1992 to sensitize communities and provide services to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). 

With funding from USAID, the Implementing AIDS Prevention and Care (IMPACT) Project, managed by Family Health International, helped SWAA expand their services and start a counseling and referral center in 2002. The center provides information, training, a meeting place for PLHA, counseling and referral services, as well as activities to build community support. One of their goals is to give hope to people like Joel.

Since the center opened, more than 14,000 clients have attended educational activities focusing on nutrition, family planning, hygiene, home-based care for PLHA, positive living and prevention of sexually transmitted infections, as well as clinical services. Nearly 7,000 clients have received face-to-face counseling. Fortunée Twiyubahe, director of SWAA-Center for Counselling and Referral, says counseling has the most impact by helping clients who lose the will to live after finding out that they are HIV-positive.

Poverty is one of the many challenges SWAA clients face. Many clients do not have enough food or a place to live. Such insecurity greatly exacerbates the health status of a person who is already HIV positive. The center's microfinance project – which gives loans for small-scale business enterprises such as selling produce – is designed to improve clients' financial status.
 
Last year SWAA extended its programming with two new counseling and referral centers in Gitarama and Kibungo. New activities such as a memory project, day care for children whose parents attend the center's activities and nutritional support are on the drawing board.

Photo: SWAA counseling center in Kigali, Rwanda. (FHI) View a larger image.