Binti aliyetembea km 12 kufuata ARV's afariki dunia

Rachael wakati anasubiri dawa katika Hospitali Kuu ya wilaya ya Kamuli nchini Uganda

Buriani Rachael, pumzika kwa amani

Rachel Namulondo, the 17-year-old girl who has been trekking for 12 kilometers for five months to pick her ARV's from Kamuli Main Hospital in Kamuli district, has died.

Namulondo, whose plight ran in New Vision, died in her 85-year-old grandfather’s hut in Gwozira zone in Nabwigulu sub-countyTuesday night.

The teen has been a common sight along Nabirumba -Kamuli road en route to pick her ARV's from the hospital and back to her home.

Her father, Amuza Lugandha abandoned her, saying he could not waste his money on an AIDS victim.

According to Stephen Namayo, the Community Based Facilitator (CBF) under Plan-Kamuli, Namulondo died when her grandfather, Nasani Musengawe was asleep.

She developed a high temperature and started vomiting after supper which briefly stopped after midnight

Her grandfather, thinking the girl was a bit okay, retired to his bed as the girl battled for her life but died. Mzee Musengawe woke up at about 6.30 am only to find his granddaughter lifeless.

The LC1 Chairman, James Balukube said Namulondo, whose mother, Monica Nakamya, , died four years ago, got infected with HIV a decade ago as she attended to her aunt, Monique Naggita, who was an HIV/AIDS victim.

She tested HIV positive in 2004 and has been struggling to live single-handedly, picking her ARV's on foot for the last five months of her life, until Tuesday night.

Her monthly trek began in December last year after her father, a resident of Nabwigulu sub-county, kicked her out of his home, saying he would not waste his resources on an HIV/ AIDS patient.

Left with no choice, Rachael left to live with grandfather, 9km farther away from the nearest health facility.

This meant that despite her precarious health, she had to walk 12km to pick ARVs.

Rachael's plight came to light last Friday at Nabirumba Health Centre III, where Plan, an NGO, organised a function to mark the World Tuberculosis Day.

“We have, in our midst, an AIDS patient, whose parents have dumped. She walks 12km to and from hospital to collect her ARVs,” the Kamuli district information officer, Joseph Ngobi, said.

Ngobi said Rachael's life was in danger because the grandfather, Nasani Musengawe, was too poor to provide a balanced diet or food supplements for the girl, let alone for himself.

“She is sickly because of poor feeding. A person on ARVs needs to eat foods that are rich in proteins and carbohydrates,” Ngobi added.

Chanzo: tovuti ya New vision