Community Voices: Sanji

Sanji is 38 years old. She grew up in the parish where she now lives. She was married but her husband got sick and died in 1996.  After the death of her husband she joined Andrew Kasattiro's support group, and at that time she did not know she was HIV positive. In 2000, she got Herpes Zoraster and it spread all over the body. She went to the traditional healer who gave her some medicine. 

Sanji is the one who takes new members of the support group for HIV testing.

She didn’t go for any injection but only traditional medicine and the skin condition disappeared. Within one month she was feeling fine but then the rash returned up to now. Since the year 2000, she has had a problem scratching up to now. She appreciates Andrew’s work because he is not tired of her. All the time she goes to him and he finds medicine for her. He brings this and that so she appreciates his work.  She is also thanking Theta for providing her with the Vaseline that they have prepared for the clinical trials that she is using now.  She is thanking the support group because without it she wouldn’t be alive now.  It has counseled her, cared for her, supported her, and whenever she has problems she goes to them, they are always with her. She has two children in the village, she is a grandmother.

Andrew speaks of the case:
Katy San Jen is my client for many years. The first time I saw her in my clinic, half the members of the village were stigmatizing her. I handed her over to the support group where she got friends and they shared (with her the) experience of the treatment, counseling and care.  When she was satisfied, she started mobilizing her fellow community members who shared the same challenge and she has brought about 10 members to the support group. She is the one who goes with the people when they go for the blood test, especially new members. And she presents personal experience wherever we go (to provide) community education. Sanji is courageous. Sometimes she becomes very weak.  She has a small business on a small scale here.  She tries to be active when she has the strength so the high income can support her when she is weak. She is currently the leader of the support group. She is now the best counselor in our group. I have trained her for more than a year.  She started as a counseling assistant, and now she is a full counselor and community educator. She has encouraged the 7th day Adventists members to use traditional medicine.  She encourages them to use both, ARVs and traditional medicine.  Sanji Jen, although she lost her husband, she never lost hope til now. She knows what is going on, she knows the Bible; she is a community caregiver.

Listening to Andrew and Sanji was Sam, a driver for Theta:
My mother was stigmatized in our community. She was stressed. I think she died because of that. Nobody was counseling her.