by Kimberly Burge
Robson Mauzeni, 62, and his wife, Martha, 59, are healthy enough to work their fields now, thanks to a $6 microcredit loan, antiretroviral medications (ARVs), broccoli, pumpkin, and tomatoes.
The Mauzenis are farmers in rural Zambia. Both have been diagnosed as HIV positive; they started on ARVs in 2005 after their health deteriorated. But without adequate nutrition, their bodies did not get the benefits of the medication. Side effects of the medication were exacerbated by undernutrition as well.
Along with a medication regimen, treating HIV and AIDS must include adequate nutrition. When people are infected with the virus, poor nutrition can speed up the progression of the disease and make people more susceptible to opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis. Once treatment with ARVs has begun, patients require more caloric intake, in part because the drugs act as appetite stimulants.
In Zambia, the staple food is nshima, a porridge-like dish made from ground maize. While it is solid and filling, it is not especially nutritious. As part of their treatment, Robson and Martha were told they needed to diversify their diet. But the family only eats what they grow, and they could not afford to buy other food.
Their health care worker put them in touch with Harmos Microenterprise Development Program, an offshoot of World Vision Zambia. The Mauzenis were given a $6 loan to purchase seeds. They planted an array of vegetables. Tending to their garden was a struggle. To irrigate the fields, every two or three days Robson had to haul buckets full of water from a nearby river, up and down a steep incline, by hand. The exertion took a further toll on his already diminished health.
But he saw his hard work pay off. The crops did well. Martha sold the surplus at a local market to earn money to pay back their loan. At harvest, they kept the seeds and started the process again. The next year, they received a larger loan from Harmos for fertilizer and to rent a pump to irrigate the field from the river. Martha also used part of the loan to purchase secondhand clothing in bulk that she will resell at the market. With the proceeds, they are hoping to be able to purchase their own water pump. Then Robson’s days of hauling water will be over for good.
Neither Robson nor Martha has been seriously ill since they began eating well. They take their ARVs religiously. And Martha encouraged her husband to add sweet potatoes to their field—a hearty plant to keep them healthy during the rainy season.
Kimberly Burge is a senior writer/editor in Bread for the World’s communications department. She visited Zambia and met the Mauzenis in 2007.
