Mukuni Village

Another highlight of the recent trip to Zambia, where I joined 15 University of Washington students and their professor, was a visit to Mukuni Village and Goat Farm Cooperative. There HIV positive mothers obtain goat milk to keep their babies strong and healthy. I was very impressed by the strong cooperation and collaboration in the community, and by how open the community members were about being HIV positive. The community was also the most progressive that I have seen in terms of women’s empowerment and gender equality as related to women coming out as HIV positive, and their partners supporting then. When I visited Kenya in 2010, and today at my site in Namibia, it is often considered solely the woman’s fault if HIV is brought into a relationship (even if, in reality, it was her husband who contracted HIV first). The women at Mukuni claimed that their partners support them in “starting a new life” and of “living positively” (the concept of living openly, proudly, and unashamedly of being HIV positive, and of embracing a healthy lifestyle and taking ARVs so as to prolong life as long as possible). One woman said, “When you find out you are HIV positive, you receive counseling. This is when you begin a new life – one of living positively, of beginning a new lifestyle.” They admitted that when they came out with their status, they were called a lot of names, and that stigma is still a problem in Zambia. But, they said, “we did not fear.” Their strength and collective support of one another was readily apparent. They also said that by contributing to their community and working together, it “gives them courage, because they know that they are giving back.” I was impressed, heartened, and inspired to see this effective, collaborative and cooperative community group.

Zambia as a whole was beautiful! It is lush and green, and the people are lovely. The towns are vibrant and dynamic, with colorful, creative storefront signs. Compared to Zambia, it also has many more people (Zambia has12 million residents, whereas Namibia has 4 million). I feel fortunate to have visited Zambia, and greatly enjoyed working with the group of students, and learning about places such as Mukuni Village.