FATUMA: "They do not have anyone else"

When the virus claimed the life of her daughter, three years ago, Fatuma was left to step into the breach and to care for her two young grandchildren – one then ten years old, and the other aged six months.

Three years have since passed, and for a 58-year-old widow, it has been exhausting work.

“It is difficult, because I had already finished parenting and now it’s like coming back,” she says, outside the Kenwa Children’s Home where she spends her days. “My youngest is already 24. It’s very difficult.”

Fatuma’s daughter, Raunaa, was 32 when she died three years ago, leaving her sons Mohammed (now 13) and Muhudhar (now three and a half).

She had tested positive for HIV but, through either fear or denial, had refused to accept her status.

“She was in hospital and very ill,” says Fatuma. “She was told she should start on ARVs but she refused to take the drugs. When she failed to take the drugs after she was released from hospital, she was yet again so ill that she was admitted a second time.

“After the second admission, she once again refused to take medication.”

Fatuma, whose husband had already died a few years earlier, contacted Kenwa, but to no avail. Despite counselling, Raunaa died six months after giving birth.

Fatuma has had a hectic time, she says, particularly with Muhudhar, who is HIV positive. She says she worries and says: “If I am not around, the children suffer because they do not have anyone else to provide for them.”

But she says the support she has had has been invaluable. “I appreciate so much what Kenwa has done for me. The child has been on a nutrition programme and I am so glad for Kenwa’s efforts.”

Gavin Aitchison travelled to Kenya with Christian Aid, to witness the charity's work with HIV victims and to meet those on the front-line in the fight against the virus.

• Christian Aid’s Christmas appeal this year is focused on HIV, marking the 30th anniversary of the discovery of the virus.

If you would like to donate to Christian Aid’s Christmas Appeal, or would like to find out more about its work on health and HIV, visit christianaid.org.uk/christmas or call 0845 7000 300.