African Woman and Child Feature Service

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HIV Positive People are hard hit by displacement
Story of Hannah Wambui
Story of Rose Gakii
Story of Ann Wairimu
Story of Jane Nyamboka
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Story of Grace Oloo

Grace Oloo’s life had taken a predictable but comfortable routine since she tested positive for HIV/AIDS about four years ago.

Every morning, she would wake up with the cock crow, see her children off to school, tidy her house, and open her business in the Soweto village of the Kibera slums.

Like most people, Oloo says she had never imagined Kenya sinking into chaos. As fresh incidences of violence flare up across the country, she says her personal turmoil escalates. Here is her story.

“Everything I have worked hard for has been reduced to ashes. Having triumphed against great odds to get this far, the sorrow within me is overwhelming.

In March of 2003, I had been bedridden for quite sometime. I was suffering from TB and despite treatment doctors said I wasn’t making progress. They tested me for HIV which confirmed their suspicions. I was HIV positive. At only 33 years, my world fell apart.

But with four children of my own and a grandchild, I had to soldier on. My husband, also positive, resulted to taking cheap brew. As the sole breadwinner, I began selling fish.

It was a very humble beginning, but I have expanded it over the years. I have been able to look after my children. My 18 year old daughter and my orphaned niece are also positive.

After the general elections results were announced, Kibera was transformed into a madhouse. I live in Soweto which was terribly torn apart.

My children and I fled on the third of January. It was the worst experience I have ever had. Even though I didn’t leave my anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs behind, without a warm place and quality food, I knew my health was in jeopardy.

I wasn’t really worried for myself as I was for my one-and-a-half year old niece. Besides being HIV positive, she suffers from pneumonia and asthma. I had this cold fear deep within me that it was only a matter of time before she died.

For the two nights she spent at Jamhuri Park, I stayed up all night frantically trying to warm her shriveled body. The sores on her body were getting worse and she was too weak.

Her sunken eyes would stare at me for most of the night; the cold being too much for her to sleep for long periods. Her health has deteriorated to alarming levels.

I am not any different from her, I have been experiencing constant headaches .The three nights I spent at the park have put my health between a rock and a hard place.

During the destructions, I lost fish that was worth about Ksh 25,000 without profit. I take my orders from Tanzania and I have been making good progress.

At the moment, I feel like I’m just about to write the last chapters of my life, the devastating desperation I feel, erases any traces of all the dreams I once had.’’

 For Grace, even though the situation leaves a lot to be desired, with some capital, she would be ready to start afresh.