As a youngster in Kenya, Mary Wambua was different. Children stayed away from her. “When my friends were going to school and playing together—I was on my own. They said I smelled and didn’t want to get close to me,” says Mary Wambua, 48. Mary had a fistula—an abnormal passage between the bladder and vagina
In early 2020, the Government of Uganda declared a lockdown with strict measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic; schools closed for 22 months. “Closed schools meant two things—no learning and teenage pregnancies,” says Teddy Kevin Nabuzale, a psychosocial support counselor with Mbale Youth Group. In some districts in Uganda, teenage pregnancies increased by 30%–50%
It was five years ago when Margaret Kugonza’s husband died after spending just a few days in the hospital. “The doctor asked to see me after his funeral,” Margaret recalls. “I went and they did an HIV test.” Upon learning she tested positive for HIV, “my heart almost stopped,” Margaret says. She started antiretroviral therapy
