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This is a story about relationships

Assane Mussa and Alima Alvide are farmers who live in the province of Nampula, Mozambique. Throughout much of their married lives, their health has been fragile and has affected their ability to provide for themselves. The only medical attention they received for recurring diahrrea and malaria, persistent coughs and a host of opportunistic diseases was from the local, traditional doctor.

But their relationship endures. A community health worker from PWRDF partner EHALE got to know them and through that relationship they were convinced to seek treatment at the local hospital and accompanied them to all their appointments. When their HIV tests came back positive, they were put on an anti-retroviral regime to boost their white blood cell counts to fight the infection and build up their strength.

The treatment can be very debilitating without proper nutrition. But Assane and Alima had limited resources to invest in their diet after years of illness. They depended on their relationships with neighbours to provide one meal a day. EHALE continued to accompany them and provided the couple with home care and food parcels – powdered milk, fortified flour for porridge, vegetable oil, rice, beans, dried peanuts and other food items to improve their diet.

Little by little they regained their strength and their health. Once they were fully recovered, EHALE enrolled the couple in a farmer’s training course and provided them with farming tools and seeds to grow maize, peanuts, beans, pumpkins and sesame seeds. They have resumed farming full time and now have a relationship with the land. They and are very grateful to EHALE for all of the support and accompaniment. They believe that the food parcels and EHALE saved their lives.