When Jackline Odongo from Kenya went for a simple antenatal check-up in 2008, she had no idea that her life — and her life’s work — was about to be transformed.
A routine test at the clinic that day showed that Jackline was living with HIV.
Later, when she disclosed her status to her husband, he beat her and threw her out of their home.
Women living with HIV can transmit the virus to their babies during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.
But Jackline was fortunate. Her clinic offered services to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. She entered the programme and gave birth to a daughter who was free of the virus.
Jackline wanted to help other women benefit from the same care, so she trained as a “Mentor Mother” with the non-governmental organisation Mothers2Mothers (m2m).
The Mentor Mothers have themselves gone through PMTCT programmes and know the challenges and rewards first-hand.
Understanding m2m
Mothers2Mothers operates in seven African countries — Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda.
Its Mentor Mothers programme is funded by the Elizabeth Glazer Paediatric Aids Foundation, USAID, and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief.
Mentor Mothers are paid m2m employees who encourage women to be tested for HIV during pregnancy, to adhere to care while receiving PMTCT services and to have their babies tested.
They act as the pregnant woman’s guide while limiting the consequences of capacity shortages in the developing world.
Programme results
Women benefitting from the work m2m is doing show stronger commitment to following PMTCT protocols and are at greater ease in adapting to living with HIV.
Those who visit an m2m site several times for education and support are more likely to receive antiretroviral drugs, disclose their HIV status to others and deliver their babies in health-care facilities.
As the world looks ahead to 2015 and beyond, m2m has begun to support governments in providing their own Mentor Mother services.
Jackline’s triumph
Jackline remains firmly committed to the organisation that helped her protect her child and showed her the way to a humanitarian career.
Today, she supervises the training of women who will become Mentor Mothers, a job that links her past with the programme to the future of m2m as a provider of knowledge for saving lives on a greater scale than before.
This article forms part of a supplement paid for by Unicef. Contents and photographs were supplied and signed off by Unicef