Meet Amina: A Mother Living with HIV but Thriving with New Life
Amina Saidi has given birth to 7 children in her life – but only 5 are still alive.
Amina’s first two children were born at home, without a trained professional and without the most basic supplies needed to ensure a safe delivery. Both her babies died.
Pregnant for the third time, Amina attended the Mkamba dispensary in her small Tanzanian village that was refurbished by AMREF through the Mkuranga Reproductive Health Project. Amina delivered her baby safely, but discovered she was living with HIV.
“I was devastated, I thought my life was over,” she explains.
(Click on the above video to see Amina’s house, meet her children and hear her entire story)
Sadly Amina and her family aren’t alone.
Nine out of ten children living with HIV worldwide are in sub-Saharan Africa, 90 per cent infected by their mothers during pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding.
HIV has also become a major obstacle in the fight against maternal death. In a recent report published in the British Medical journal The Lancet, researchers discovered a close connection between HIV and maternal health is now clear.
AMREF’s Work Tackling HIV and Maternal Health
As the world’s leading African health development organization AMREF empowers communities giving them a chance to save future generations.
For example - community health workers trained by AMREF in Ruvuma, Southern Tanzania - are reducing the number of babies born with HIV by encouraging pregnant women (women like Amina) in local villages to be tested so they can protect their children from infection.
With treatment and proper nutrition babies are born healthy and women can live full lives, continuing to care for their families.
Click on the video above to learn more about Amina and her family.
Remember you can help empower other women like Amina – give to AMREF today.
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