Lunzu, Blantyre District, Malawi — Alinafe Machilika had to leave high school before finishing her final year, dashing her hopes of becoming a nurse. Her family couldn’t afford the fees. The teen quickly married and soon had a baby, which left her wholly dependent on her husband. The couple fought, mostly about money. With little
As a peer educator for the Jhpiego-supported Gateway Project in Malawi, John Banda* spends nights and weekends scouting Ngabu area bars, sports fields and other community venues, looking to help men in need of HIV prevention or treatment services. Drawing on his own experience as a gay person living with HIV who, since 2017, has benefited from antiretroviral therapy (ART), the 34-year-old is publicly open and insistent about knowing one’s serostatus and seeking lifesaving care. With homosexuality against the law in his country, John’s work is sensitive. The aim of this work is preventing and reducing the transmission of HIV, particularly in key
Blantyre, Malawi — She was not yet 13, and for most of her life, she was sickly. Malaria, diarrhea, fits of coughing and skin irritations often kept her home from school. A trip to the health facility was too far. But a health worker’s visit to her school’s girls club provided answers to the girl’s
