Adelie, Arlene and Francoise, interviewed in January 2009, talk about change: ADELIE "I have been reborn because I was dying..." The (Rwanda) Gift for Life project gave me a new life. It gave me back my humanity. I have no words to describe the situation I was in before I was offered help. I would say that I have been reborn because I was dying and living from day to day. I often wondered about my chances of survival, my living conditions, and my immediate future. Gift for Life's aid, especially its food assistance, provided a balanced diet which is essential to people who live with HIV-AIDS. I eat fruit; I drink milk even though I don't own a cow. Milk is very nutritious as you know. If the Gift for Life project had not intervened in my life, I would already be dead. I had become a bit crazy; I had traumatic episodes all the time. I was constantly taking sleeping pills because I couldn't sleep. Now I sometimes have traumatic crises during the period of commemoration, but they go away quickly. When the GFL project began to provide assistance, I didn't even have a house. But now I do. The fact that I have found people who have similar problems as myself, people with whom I can talk, has reduced the crises I suffer and means that I don't worry as much as before about my survival. Even when I don't feel like eating, I drink a bit of milk and feel full. I now feel strong and my CD4 counts are up to a level that I don't need to take any anti-retroviral drugs; I still take bactrim to fight opportunistic infections. Before I became part of GFL, I used to suffer from diarrhoea. But that's not the case now and I am no longer weak. All of this is because of the help I received from Gift for Life. When I feel desperate, I consult Sister Speciose and she helps me a lot, which enables me to get out of the depression. I suffer from illnesses that people who are not HIV-positive also get, but these are not related to my HIV-positive status or to poor living conditions. From an economic point of view, I've been able to repair my house and I rented a field where I grow cassava root. I expect to start a small business once the Huye market moves to Miyogoro because that’s close to where I live. The district said that the market will move on 15 February 2009. I'm still waiting for that decision to be acted upon. I don't know if I will be successful because it’s in a rural setting where I don't think there will be many customers. Honestly, I don't know how to convey the impact that the assistance has had on my life. If you had seen me then, you might be able to describe the change because it is obvious to the naked eye. I pray God to bless the donors of this project because they have made sacrifices for people who were strangers to them, and we're aware that that's not an easy thing to do. I cannot find the words to thank our benefactors; they gave us back our lives. Only God can repay our debt towards them. ARLENE The problems of life have eased off... Rwanda Gift for Life brought many things into my life. My life improved thanks to assistance from GFL. I used to work at the teaching hospital of Butare as a hygiene officer but I was laid off. I felt discouraged and started to ask myself how I was going to survive. While I was still wondering about my life, my mother got cancer and died. I found myself penniless after all the time I had spent at the hospital with her and the things I had to buy. At the same time, I was very sickly because I had begun to suffer from opportunistic diseases which I contracted because of my poor living conditions. I was often in crisis because of my poor living conditions; there were always problems I couldn't solve and I felt helpless. I started feeling better as soon as I enrolled in the programme. I became hopeful again; I could support myself and I was strong enough to work. I experienced fewer problems associated with my illness. I am content now because I no longer worry about finding enough to eat, how to get transport for medical care and anyway, I'm not as sick as I used to be. The balanced diet I get through GFL continues to improve my health to the point that I no longer have to take anti-retroviral medication because my CD4 cell counts have risen and are normal. All of this is thanks to this diet and to the fact that for me, the problems of life have eased off. I often suffer from headaches, but I don't know if they are related to the fact that I am HIV-positive or something else. I use to continue to feel traumatized, but this is not as bad as it used to be. I hardly experience any crises now. The traumatic crises also disappeared and I didn't have to go to a trauma counsellor. But there is always Sister Speciose, who is in charge of the GFL recipients and who likes to listen to us and to give us advice on how to behave, how to resolve some of our issues etc. Sometimes we go to see her ourselves, but there are other times when she is the one to call us and ask us how we are doing. What I can also say is that I ask you to continue to speak on our behalf, to see if you can find other donors. I thank the donors and those who started GFL for their generosity toward strangers. They got us out of a very bad situation and even when the project ends, the result of their work will continue to be seen. FRANCOISE I was dead and Gift for Life has brought me back to life... I learned that I had contracted HIV-AIDS in 2000, but I don't know who among the many men who raped me gave it to me. The project Rwanda Gift for Life began to give me some assistance when I wasn't doing well at all, to the point where I couldn't walk without a cane. I remember that I couldn't carry the foodstuff that I had been given. I couldn't even get on a scale. I lost all my hair. None of my children are sick because I gave birth to them before I became HIV positive. Before I began to take anti-retroviral drugs my CD4 were very low and I weighed only 34 kilos (75 pounds). Thanks to the food assistance from Gift for Life, I gained weight and now weigh 64 kilos (141 pounds). I don't know how to express the effect that GFL has had on my life; in a few words, I was dead and it has brought me back to life. My children have all the school materials they need to study, they eat well and have milk to drink; one can't tell that their mother is a widow. Thanks to a good and balanced diet, I am strong enough to work and I work my fields. I continued to take the anti-retroviral medication on a regular basis and I don't have any opportunistic infections. I no longer feel traumatised because I can talk with the other people who are beneficiaries of GFL. And, since my living situation is much improved, I have nothing to worry about. My eldest daughter still remembers what happened when I was raped and she is always telling me that men are bad. She is in the second year of high school. I wonder if she will be able to endure marriage. Apart from that, everything is fine now and Sister Speciose is always nearby to console us and boost our spirits. I would like to add a thank you to the donors to Gift for Life for the precious help they have given us. May God grant them many blessings.

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