Sylvia’s story
... the vital importance of education
Sylvia heads up the Practical AIDS Care and Education programme at City Harvest Church in Kenya. She is also studying theology part time and has been asked to provide HIV counselling at her college. She is also a chaplain at an HIV clinic in Kibera one day a week.
Sylvia can understand exactly what others are going through and why it is so important to provide testing and support services …
“My husband died in 1995 and it was only after his death that I found out he was HIV positive, when his doctor told me.
“I ignored what the doctor told me for seven years – partly because I didn’t have the counselling I needed to cope with the situation. I was ‘self-stigmatised’ and didn’t tell any one or get tested. Then when I got TB and went for an HIV test, it was positive. Although I trusted God, I still had the stigma within me. Counselling by a Christian friend at my church helped me so much.”
This stigma that Sylvia describes is something she sees everyday in others. She asked 70 pastors at her Bible College if she could speak about HIV at their churches. Only two said yes. This is why the work of Sylvia and others like her must continue and expand so that more and more people are educated about HIV and AIDS so that they too can play their part in stopping the spread of this disease.
> Download and watch a video clip about the work Sylvia is involved in at City Harvest.
