The Mission in Malawi and Zambia

Witnesses of Love

Fighting against AIDS

Sister Cristina Vargas Rivera, of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, has been working at the Ilute AIDS Clinic, in the Mongu District, Zambia, since 2001. This clinic takes care of pregnant women who have AIDS and prevents the transmission of AIDS to their newborn children. This is her missionary experience.

Zambia has a population of more than 15 million, and it is estimated that 15 percent of the adult population between 16 and 49 years of age is infected with the AIDS virus. This means that 2.5 million people are living with the virus.

Sister Cristina lives her consecration to Christ in this context. She takes care of the pregnant women infected with AIDS that come to the Mongu AIDS Clinic with generosity, love and professionalism day by day. These women are also informed of ways to prevent the transmission of the virus during pregnancy, at childbirth and in breastfeeding. They receive support and food for the children for 18 months.

“We founded the mission in 2001 in response to an invitation of the Bishop of Mongu”, explained Sister Cristina, and she added: “Zambia is divided into provinces and Mongu is the capital of the Western Province. We work specifically in a rural clinic located in the Ilute area, in cooperation with the Health Ministry. Our task is to prevent the transmission of the AIDS virus from the mothers to the babies. Since this project started in 200, we have taken care of more than a thousand women with excellent results.  In the last year and a half the virus has not been transmitted to a single baby, due to the training their mothers have received regarding the care they should give to the children.

Currently, 14 persons participate in this project. Some are volunteers (women who have the AIDS virus), two sisters (Sister Cecilia Zavala Esparza and Sister Cristina), and several professional nurses. Right now, the clinic is taking care of 15 pregnant women. But how does this project work? Sister Cristina explains: “The pregnant woman comes to the clinic for a HIV test. If it is positive, she is given medical treatment free of charge with the support of the Zambia government and of donations received from different foreign countries. The future mothers feel sad when they discover that they are infected, but they have an open attitude. In the clinic we have a section called “Support” where the women express how they are living due to this illness and we help them to handle it so they have a positive attitude”.

Sister Cristina added: “We give the women retroviral treatment, multi-vitamins and lectures. When the child is born, we give them support for 18 months; they receive food for the baby and medical checkups to monitor their development. For example, previously during the first six months, mothers did not breastfeed their babies for fear of virus transmission, and we gave them formulas; but now, due to scientific advances, it is possible for them to breastfeed their babies. We teach them to do it correctly and we give them soap and Vaseline. After six months, we give the mothers the ingredients to prepare a nutritious drink for their babies, which includes peanuts, ground cereal and sugar”.

The Sisters have made great efforts and have had many achievements in this clinic. Sister Cristina explains: “Zambia is one of the countries with higher levels of AIDS. A lot of work has been done in the field of education in order to destroy the stigma toward people who are infected with the virus, but there is still much work to be done”.

She tells us that she feels fulfilled serving God by serving her patients. “My life is consecrated to God and I give life to my consecration through service to the needy and vulnerable, the AIDS patients here. This is the charism we received from our founder, the French Bishop Claude Marie Dubuis. He used to say that the needy were expecting help from our hands. I see Jesus Christ in each one of the mothers and the babies. It is great to see them when they are born and to see them grow. For example, Ruth is a woman who came to us infected by the virus when she was pregnant. Her child is now six years old, is in the elementary school and is a healthy child. She directs an educational theater group with other mothers and is a great leader and an excellent woman. I am very grateful to God, to my Congregation and especially to Doctor Liguali, who has always supported this program. I feel supported by my Congregation and by the Health System”, said Sister Cristina with a happy attitude.

[[photo: Sister Cecilia weighs a child

The voice of a nurse

“My name is Florence Isinonge and I am in charge of the NeedProgram at the Ilute Clinic. I am a nurse specialized in obstetrics. I have been working in this program since 2009, teaching the young mothers how to take care of their babies, especially to breastfeed them adequately because they have the HIV virus. Previously, they did not breastfeed their babies for fear of transmitting the virus to them; in this program things have changed and now they can breastfeed them without fear of transmitting the virus to them.

I feel happy and grateful for the opportunity to work in this program because we give a new opportunity to the mothers infected with HIV-AIDS and to their children. If they breastfeed them adequately, they will be free of this illness. I belong to the International Pentecostal Christian denomination “Bread of Life”.  I believe that we can help all people regardless of their religion, because we are all human beings and therefore, there are no frontiers among us. I also enjoy praying with them, because prayer, especially when we start working, gives us the strength to help others”.

Written by: Claudia Villalobos

Interviewer, Jorge DECELIS