ELESI MBUMBA did not expect to ever live to see a better day. She got married at 14, after losing both parents and dropping out of school. She had her first child at 15. At 28, she has 6 kids and an HIV positive husband.
A BLM Modern Family Planning advocate reached out to her in February 2007 at her Mchotseni Village in Mwanza. After narrating her ordeal and how she became a mother of 6 at such a tender age, she was advised to consider going for a Tubal Litigation to avoid complications during more deliveries.
Mrs Mbumba was also counseled on the need for HIV Testing and Counseling.
This prompted Mbumba to go for counseling and testing with her husband where she tested negative but her partner tested positive.
This knowledge about their sero-status helped them to take a bold decision and go for Tubal Litigation to avoid passing on the virus to their offspring. The couple was also counseled on how to live positively after knowing their sero-status and how to avoid sharing the virus.
To date, ELESI MBUMBA is still HIV negative and her family is grateful to Banja La Mtsogolo. Her story has encouraged more people to go for counseling and testing and has also created more demand for BLM services in her area.
BLM is committed to reaching out to every community and every household. Not everyone is bold enough to come out of their homes and visit a BLM clinic to access family planning services even after having heard about BLM on radio and community campaigns. So there is need to take modern family planning and other services to every household, particularly the poor.
BLM is grateful to all the donor support and looks forward to reaching out to more people desperate for BLM’s services.
