Coronavirus in Uganda: I didn’t have money to give, so I offered to pick their ARVs
“Because I am open about my status, many reached out to me and opened up”
When the directive to stop and any and all public means was passed, people living with HIV that needed their life-saving drugs refilled were forgotten. In the beginning they tried to take motorcycles but many were whipped off the bikes and left nursing bruises. When they tried to send just the boda-boda riders to collect their drugs, news of their status spread like a wildfire. The stigma in this Busabala suburb went high and a young man, Hillary Nuwamanya swooped in.
Born with HIV/AIDS about 24years ago, Hillary is just the savior the people living with HIV in Busabala areas needed. “Because I am open about my status, many reached out to me and opened up,” he says. Defeated, he first started by footing to health centers on Entebbe road and collecting for some people, until a kind friend of his saw what he was doing and gave him a bicycle. “Now I ride the bicycle for kilometers and with small chits making stops at many ARVs collection points,” he says.
He does this and no cost and his heart for volunteerism soars through his every word. “Government forgot us, we had to find a way to look after each other,” he says. In his community, many people will tell of his kindness, but importantly his commitment to ending the spread of HIV which scientists say mostly goes high when people are not on their ARVs. “I didn’t have money to offer, so I offered to pick their ARVs for them!”
Hillary Nuwamanya