A Woman of Faith

I am currently writing a story for OAIC's website about a lady I interviewed named Gladys Kenyani Kedogo. Gladys is a quiet lady with a gentle nature. By appearance she is a woman like any other. Yet in reality Gladys is a key female leader in her African Independent Church and has spent her life speaking out to support marginalized groups of people and to teach HIV and AIDS awareness. What is most compelling about Gladys’ story is that she has personally experienced the issues she speaks about, and her faith has survived in order to change her community for the better.

Gladys comes from a village called Tigoi in Western Kenya, the area of the country I visited over Christmas break. Since the early 1970's she has been involved in women's ministries in her Independent Church, referred to by many as "Mama Center" because she is at the center of her church’s community.

In 1995, OAIC trained Gladys as a Trainer of Trainees (TOT) to promote HIV and AIDS awareness among youth. Gladys would speak to groups in her church and in surrounding communities about the HIV virus and how to prevent its transmission. At the time, the disease was still relatively new, and there were several misconceptions and stereotypes floating around in the air. Many church communities, in particular, viewed HIV as a "curse from God" and therefore stigmatized those living with the disease. Gladys spoke out to change these views and to educate people that HIV is a virus that attacks the human immune system, and not a curse from God.

Along with some of the beliefs that her community held, there were also several traditions that Gladys' ethnic community, known as the Luhyia, practice that she realized might be responsible for the spread of HIV. Wife inheritance, for example, in which a widow is 'inherited' or remarried to her brother-in-law, causes several problems according to Gladys, one being the high risk of transmitting HIV. The practice of male circumcision also was a major factor, because the elders would often use one razor blade to circumcise all the boys in the village. Along the same lines, when a person dies in the village, it is custom to shave the heads of all the deceased's family members, and similarly the elders used one razor blade on everyone involved. Because of Gladys mission to teach about HIV awareness, she could not help but speak out about these practices that she viewed as harmful.

Gladys speaks with conviction about these challenges due to the fact that she has experienced many of the same issues personally. Ten years ago, Gladys’ husband died tragically in a road accident, leaving her as a widow with ten children to care for. When her family members requested that she go for inheritance, she refused on Christian principles. Because she had spoken out against many of her Luhyia traditions and also had refused to be inherited, the elders shunned her. To this day Gladys cannot attend circumcision ceremonies among other rituals that go on in her village, and often she must leave the village entirely when these customs are being performed.

To add to the calamity, Gladys discovered that she herself is HIV positive, after having preached awareness of the disease for the previous ten years. Despite her effort to discover how she had contracted the disease, Gladys could find no answers. She began treatment on Antiretroviral drugs (ARV's), and has managed to keep herself healthy and functioning. However, contracting the virus has seriously impacted Gladys' life. The drugs she must take are expensive, and with no income to speak of, Gladys finds it extremely difficult to feed herself, her family, and to buy the necessary medications. When she asks for assistance from her extended family members and neighbors, they reject her, saying that if she had accepted the tradition of inheritance, she would have been taken care of. She explains, “So if you go to that house, you need some salt, they say 'Why does she come here begging? Since she said God is there for her, why can't God bring for her salt or food from heaven?’ So when I don't have any money I just live in God.”

Gladys' faith has saved her from facing her life's challenges empty-handed. OAIC has also encouraged Gladys, teaching her about how to sustain herself as a victim of HIV. Staff members from OAIC trained her about certain natural medicines such as Artimesia and Maringa that boost her immune system and supplement her ARV's. OAIC also made it possible for Gladys to buy a cow, which now supports her through its produce.

A typical homestead in Western Kenya.

Looking back on her life, Gladys is proud of the work she has done because it has brought about positive changes in her village. Now more widows are standing firm, refusing the tradition of wife inheritance. The elders have also heeded Gladys' slogan 'one knife, one child' during their circumcision ceremonies, thus stemming the risk of spreading HIV. Although they still have not fully accepted Gladys back into their midst, the community has taken actions to address the risks that some of their traditions potentially cause.

Despite her various hardships in life, Gladys has not once lost her courage or her faith. It is by this faith that she continues to live each day, staying healthy and optimistic, and continuing to change her community.