Breaking Chains: A Journey to Health and Freedom
The journey to health and freedom from HIV can be tough if you are married but alone. How did one woman embark on the journey with an abusive husband?
When visiting a hair salon, Mercy* met a group of health workers from the USAID Strengthening the Care Continuum Project
who were educating customers and workers about HIV and offering voluntary testing.
For months, Mercy had experienced unexplained weight loss, fatigue, and a loss of appetite, and she wondered whether the health workers could help her. Her abusive husband, a traditional healer, refused to allow her to visit the hospital. When she told the nurses about her symptoms, they encouraged her to test for HIV.
The result was not what she expected—she was HIV-positive. She was devastated and hid her results from her husband. “Embracing my HIV-positive status was difficult, especially because my husband tested negative. I felt lost,”
Embracing my HIV-positive status was difficult especially because my husband tested negative. I felt lost.”
Recognizing this difficulty, nurse and HIV case manager Esther Graves from Mission of Hope International, a sub-grantee of the Project, invited Mercy and her husband to participate in a training on HIV prevention and treatment.
During the training, Mercy was given HIV medicine. However, she continued to hide her status from her husband. "I was afraid to inform my husband, so whenever my medicine finished, I didn't know how to return to the hospital to request for more.
Nurse Esther also introduced Mercy to the gender-based violence (GBV) component of the Project, through which she could access counseling and organizations like the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service.
This support empowered Mercy to prioritize her physical and mental health by leaving her husband:
Since the separation, my health has improved, I have even gained some weight! Before meeting nurse Esther and the team, I was jobless. Now that I have my freedom back, I have set up an egg selling business and it's progressing well!"
Now that I have my freedom back, I have set up an egg selling business and it's progressing well!"
Nurse Esther confirms that Mercy now has a low HIV viral load which means that the virus progression has slowed.
Since Mercy left her husband, she frequently takes her medicine and diligently visits the hospital. She now has a new partner who is aware of her status and even though he is HIV negative, they are happily living as a mixed-status couple.
Context
From October 2022 to September 2023, the USAID Strengthening the Care Continuum Project team in the Ahafo Region:
- Organized events and visited community centers, schools, and other frequently visited locations like salons.
- Educated 1,590 individuals on how to prevent, detect, and treat HIV.
- Tested 22,620 individuals for HIV of whom 1,101 tested positive and 97% were linked to treatment.
- Collaborated with local health facilities to return 831 persons with HIV who had discontinued their treatment back to care.
HIV case managers (left and middle) and Director of Life Relief Foundation (right) discussing strategies to improve HIV testing services
Project nurses facilitate HIV counseling and testing service.
*For privacy reasons, her name has been changed.
Story and photos by Richard Adupong (Strengthening The Care Continuum Activity) and Atiewin Mbillah-Lawson for USAID/Ghana