40-year-old Florence, a mother of four, was the first patient to arrive at Epworth Clinic and register in the programme. Florence tested positive for HIV shortly after giving birth to her third child.

“I was always sick, and I decided to go and get tested. I had heard there were MSF staff who were doing free tests at the Clinic,” she says.

In the decade since, Florence is now one of more than 30,000 patients in Zimbabwe who have received free medical care at Epworth Clinic. The programmes the clinic offers go far beyond just screening and medicating patients, staff run support groups for TB and HIV patients, while the clinic houses its own pharmacy and provides counselling sessions.

Florence is a testament to Epworth Clinic's success. Her health has improved and her HIV is under control. She says she’s no longer ashamed of her HIV status.

“Being diagnosed HIV positive doesn’t affect me anymore, although initially, it upset me. Now that I have accepted the situation it hasn’t changed the course of my life,” Florence speaks as her son runs in and out of the one room house, playing with the neighbours.

With four children of her own, Florence also takes care of Tanya, the HIV positive, disabled ten-year-old daughter, of her friend, Elizabeth, who passed away in 2010. Tanya and her mother were part of the first group of patients on the Epworth HIV programme, starting treatment at the clinic on the same day as Florence.

Tanya, her brother, and her father, Life, live next door to Florence. The bubbly young girl, who has never been to school, uses a wheelchair or crutches to move around.

I don’t remember much about my mother except that she was put in a coffin and she was buried. The people who take care of me now are my Father, my neighbor Florence and my brother. – Tanya

“Before she started her HIV treatment - you would not imagine she would be the young girl she is now. She was underweight, she was not developing properly. Once she started treatment, her health began to improve,” Tanya's father says.

Curious and social, Life says Tanya is desperate to go to school. She spends most days at home with Florence though, while her Father searches for work. With the unemployment rate estimated at around 90 per cent, and no job, Life is unable to pay for Tanya’s education.

“When the other kids are playing outside my home, I try and use my crutches to keep up, but they don’t slow down for me, because I can’t walk as fast,” Tanya says.

Despite the challenges, Tanya remains hopeful about her future.

“When I grow up, I want to be a teacher, because I want to teach people and help them read, even though I don’t know how to read, I want to teach them that they should read. At the moment, I can count to ten and I can write ‘my name is Tanya’,” she says pointing proudly to some worn paper on a shelf, scrawled with words and numbers.

in Naga, Myanmar

Fuente de salud y dignidad

Source de santé et de dignité