AIDS patient in Uganda finds help in helping others

Published: 2004-07-08

LUWEERO, Uganda (CNS) -- Kevina Nakirijja was given up for dead by her family after being diagnosed with AIDS 12 years ago. But the 52-year-old Ugandan woman has survived, in large part through her involvement in a church-run AIDS program. Nakirijja has become a peer counselor in the Diocese of Kasana-Luweero's program helping other Ugandans deal with the stigma associated with the disease. Comboni Father George Previdi said Nakirijja's involvement was instrumental in the program's success. Nakirijja first started with the program as a client. At first, she refused to accept her HIV-positive status, believing instead that she was bewitched. Eventually, her health deteriorated to the point where all of her hair had fallen out. The woman was so desperately ill that Father Previdi said, "I had nowhere to anoint as the whole of her body, including her face, was covered with sores."

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