Weaving a better life

Soline Mukansanga, 45, had lost hope of ever living a normal, comfortable life. This is after realizing that she had HIV. She says that the only thing she thought about was death. Living with HIV, she thought, was a death sentence. “I only believed there was nothing next in life other than death. And because of that, I used to believe I would die any time. I felt so lonely and never even had hope life would continue,” Mukansanga narrates. “Because that was the way I thought, I could not find something to do or even plan for the future.”The mother of three says it was such a trying moment which affected her health so much that she even regrets her actions, during that time. “One day, a friend connected me to other women who were undergoing training in making baskets at Gahaya Links in Kicukiro. When I joined these women, trust me, this was the beginning of a new life,” Mukansanga says. She now believes that just like any other person out there, who is faced with the same challenge, hope or lack of it contribute to people`s behaviour and altitude. “If you realize you are living with HIV and then just believe there is nothing you can do apart from thinking about death, you will be betraying yourself,” she says. Currently, Mukansanga is one of those women in associations that Gahaya Links has formed and she says that when work goes well, she earns about Rwf 3000 per day. The income has helped her not only to cater for home basics but also increased her ability to get proper care. “Before I started working, I could not afford to buy myself medicine and this affected my health all the time. But I can now afford the medication.” Joy Ndunguste, the founder and CEO of Gahaya Links, says that although the company has trained women in weaving, they (women), have also been committed and it’s something that has helped them to improve their welfare. “Women, HIV positive or not, have proved their commitment in fighting poverty and this is the reason we have now been able to form 52 cooperatives across the country,” Ndunguste observes. She further explains that, the beginning is always hard since these women do not have the skills initially, but after realizing the benefits, they become hard working and love and value what they do. Recently, the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Michel Sidibé, visited Gahaya Links and commended the company for economically empowering HIV positive women. During his visit, he said he was impressed with what women there do to earn money, adding that it was a great strategy towards improving lives of these women. Just like Mukansanga, Sidibé pointed out that where there is hope, there is life. He encouraged HIV positive women to utilize every opportunity to create hope and have a better life. Ends