How AIDS Affects Education - One Family's Story

Natumanya Rechol has known that she was HIV-positive for some time. In 2002, she learned of The AIDS Support Organization of Uganda (TASO), an organization which offers care, treatment and support to people affected and infected with HIV.

Natumanya has two daughters. This fall, Natumanya grew sicker and eventually, she became bed-ridden. Because she was the sole provider for her two daughters, Mirembe Rose and Kabahweza Tuneki, both girls were forced to drop out of school. Like many families in Africa, their mother could no longer pay their school fees because she was too sick to work. The daughters also needed to stay home and care for her.

But in March 2007, Natumanya joined the ranks of more than 20,000 people across Uganda receiving anti-AIDS treatment through TASO. Every day, she takes her anti-retroviral (ARV) medicines. ARV treatmeant costs about $300 a year - these medicines are far too expensive for most people in a country where the yearly income of an average citizen is just $245. After just two weeks, Natumanya was well-enough to return to work in her small shop. This quick and dramatic recovery, often called "the Lazarus Effect," is common for AIDS patients, who can go from being on death's door to returning to productive lives in just a matter of weeks or months.

In addition to ARVs, TASO also provided Natumanya and her family with some food assistance, a bed-net to protect them from malaria and training on the importance of clean water. The bed-net is especially important for HIV patients like Natumanya, whose immune systems are weakened.

TASO also provided a small amount of money to support her children's education, but the funding is not enough to pay all of their fees. Both girls are still out of school, but are hoping desperately to go back some day soon.

TASO is one of thousands of organizations benefiting from funding from the US Government through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). PEPFAR focuses its efforts on 15 of the countries hardest hit by AIDS across the world.