Jeremiah dares to dream

In 2010, Jeremiah lost his wife four days after she gave birth, was tested HIV positive and was left with eight children to take care of. Feeling alone and afraid, he sought couselling from World Vision. Two years later, he is the happy beneficiary of World Vision's Livelihood Project and is able to take care of his family. He dares to dream about the future.

“I was frightened, alone and confused,” he recalls.

Not only was he unable to afford to buy milk for his newborn baby boy, he also had no idea how he would raise his other children. 

“I had never fed a baby in my life and my wife had always taken care of the children at home. Then all of a sudden, I was supposed to do everything.” 

Jeremiah says that the counseling services that he received from a community-based organisation commissioned by World Vision saved him from suicidal thoughts.

“They told me that as long as I had hope, I would live for many years to come. Hearing that was very encouraging. I resolved not to die from within. I chose to be hopeful” he says.

After receiving counseling and the necessary medication, Jeremiah was also nominated to become one of the first beneficiaries of a World Vision Income Generating Project in his village, Ntwetwe. He received 10 chicken and was trained on how to rear them for maximum productivity. He excelled at it and on top of selling the eggs to generate some household income, Jeremiah also used the eggs to feed his infant son.

“The doctors told me that eggs were very nutritious for the baby and they really came in handy,” he recalls. “I would sometimes scramble them and add some milk to them for the baby. He loved the food.”

World Vision also gave Jeremiah three pigs which he found very difficult to rear.

“They needed a lot of food and I didn’t have much land. I decided to let them mate, sold them off with their 20 piglets and then bought a young bull and heifer,” he narrates, explaining that the cows didn’t require as much investment since they could graze in the community.

“Progressing from nothing to a heifer and bull made me realise I could turn my fortunes,” he says. 

Indeed, at the beginning of 2011, Jeremiah sold the calf, which had now grown into a mature cow and used the money to buy a second bull and an extension of his land. His love for cattle also led him to learn basic veterinary skills from a local vet. Soon, he was being called upon by neighbours to help treat their cattle. 

His son, Kizito, had also survived his first year and by God’s grace, was HIV negative.

“When the doctors told me he was not (HIV) positive, I thought it was a big joke! But after three different check-ups over the span of a year, it dawned on me that God had spared my son from HIV.”

For Jeremiah, this was one more reason to secure his future. Using savings from his veterinary work, he bought a heifer. In July 2012, Jeremiah sold off the bull he had bought in 2011 and used the profits to buy two young bulls. His preference for young bulls is not so much about their low cost as it is the fact that they can be sold off in a short period of time with significant profit.

“Also, the bulls don’t require too much space to rear and since I had very little land at the start, I opted for the bulls.”

Having expanded his land recently, Jeremiah is now ready to grow his herd.

“I am now going to buy one other heifer and then breed them,” he says. To ensure that his proverbial eggs are not all in one basket, Jeremiah has also bought a few ducks and local chickens from which he can get some money for the children.

“God-willing, I intend to build rental houses on my new piece of land. That will make sure my children always have some money to take care of their needs.”

Looking back, Jeremiah is convinced that were it not for God using the HIV counseling he received, as well as the Income Generating Project from World Vision, he would have been dead.

“Everyone needs a helping hand once in a while,” he remarks. “For me, that hand came in form of counseling and a source of livelihood.”

Jeremiah has also taken a new perspective to living with HIV. “I used to think that being infected was basically a death sentence b ut I’ve never felt more alive in my life as I do today.”

More than 300 people living with HIV in Kiboga district have been helped to start up income generating projects. In a district whose prevalence rate is 6.9 per cent, this is a very small percentage. Still, statistics do not always paint an accurate picture of impact. For individuals and families like Jeremiah’s , World Vision’s intervention is a game changer; the extra push they need to survive the dark shadows of apathy, poverty and hopelessness.

Asked what his message he would be to give those like him who are struggling to come to terms with their status, his speaks without hesitation, “Hope. Without hope for a better future, not even an HIV negative person would survive.”