The display of youthful exuberance, intelligence, confidence and beauty attracted me to this young lady sitting in the mist of older ladies and who occasionally would chip in useful information about the organisation’s activities at a meeting with some staff members of Heal the Land Initiative, a grantee of AWDF at Akwa Ibom state in Nigeria. Ms. Peace Augustines is the third of six children born to Mr & Mrs Augustine from Abia States in Nigeria. Peace as she is affectionately called is 21 years old and lost both parents in 2002 to HIV&AIDs.
Soon after the death of her parents and at a young age of 16, Peace begun to feel the impact of HIV &AIDS as it perpetuates the cycle of poverty. As an orphan from a poor home she and her siblings were thrown out of their parent’s home, she abandoned her education and each one of them had to take care of themselves. The issue of survival becomes very critical here! Peace was lucky enough to have moved into her grandmother’s house, at least there shelter was assured, but then she had to assume a new role as head of the household at the expense of her education. Peace quickly found her survival strategy to raise income for her household’s upkeep; street hawking of pure water in the busy streets of Abia State was her new income generation activity. It was during one of her hawking activities that she was spotted by Ms. Doris Ugwu, the Executive Director of Heal the Land Initiative who also knew about her parents death. Doris, knowing this young lady decided to give her a chance to live a better life. Doris is HIV&AIDS positive and the first to publicly announce her status in Akwa Ibom. Understanding the impact of the disease on families and children especially, Doris decided to seek permission from Peace’s grandmother to allow her to sponsor Peace’s education whilst she continued to live with her grandmother to sit her West African Examination Council (WAEC) papers.
In 2008, Peace moved to live with Doris in Akwa Ibom State. She has written the joint matriculation examination board and will soon be writing her aptitude test to guarantee her a place in the university. Peace is a very ambitious young lady; she is looking forward to going to the University of Oyo to read psychology. She also dreams of being a philosopher, Peace believes she possesses a wealth of knowledge which she would like to pass on to other people to shape their lives for the better.
Peace has increased her knowledge on HIV&AIDs through her personal life and also through her engagement with HEAL the Land Initiative where she volunteers her time when she is not in school. Obviously Peace has had huge challenges in life, from her childhood to date; experiencing the suffering and death of her parents and its repercussion on her growing up. She said to me “It doesn’t matter what you go through in life you just don’t have to give up. I have learnt to improve on my knowledge, be vigilant and not to be taken advantages of by boys or men and to trust in God”.
- She has learnt never to stigmatise anyone no matter his or her situation.
- She has learnt to give back, and so she also wants to rescue other children from the street.
- She has built her confidence level; to her living positively is not the end of one’s life and she want to support others to live positively.
- She has learnt that maturity is not in age but in mind and character because that is the powerful tool one needs to win the community over.
- She has learnt to make friends she can influence positively and vice versa.
Unfortunately, not many children are or will be as lucky as Peace to be rescued off the street and given a decent life and an education. There are many more children who are continuously exposed to the hazards of ‘streetism’. It is therefore important that as development workers, women’s activists and donor organizations we begin to rethink the factors which fuel the spread of HIV such as gender inequality, conflict, migration, poverty, exclusion and the denial of basic rights as factors that cut right across the development agenda. Approximately 99% of those infected by HIV&AIDS live in developing countries and 12 million girls and boys are orphaned as a result of HIV&AIDS. HIV&AIDS is now one of the most powerful barriers to achieving the 2015 development targets in Africa, where it is now the leading cause of death.
Peace is a peer educator in schools and her community but how effective can she be if her actions and those of organisations like Heal the Land Initiative are not supported by decision and policy maker and all of us?
P.S: Peace is not positive
Nafi Chinery
Capacity Building Officer
AWDF
Thank you for the great work that you are doing. Indeed the photos has portrayed exactly what took place in the conferences all the women we have seen are really women of high integrity, vigilant and determined to work for the good of women and the nation at large.
We request for the weekly or monthly publications on the women human rights and HIV AIDS information just in case.
Once again i thank Miss Doris Ugwu the Executive Director Heal The Land Initiative for the kindness, being a real mother who helped Peace especially for her education this is the way how the communities have in several occasions lost such wonderful people i know Peace will develop into a woman who will be of importance than every one has ever thought. We request for every body especially women to come up and support such children the orphans, children with disability, and children from very poor families.