This story is about a champion of change…a woman whose heart changed the lives of those around her.

Menia Chikanda is the Chairperson of Mngwanga Recovery Support Group, she is 58 years old. Menia is a widow with six children. In 1970 she married Lutele. They lived together for 26 years. Lutele died after a long illness in 1996.

In 2005 Menia became very ill and was unable to walk and talk. Nobody in her village helped her or even took her to the hospital.

Menia and Her Daughter

After some time Menia’s daughter forced her to go to the hospital and get tested for AIDS.  Menia discovered she was HIV positive and that her husband had died of 8 years previously. Menia was fortunate, because she was able to take ARV’s, and had enough food to enable the medication to work.

As Menia began to regain her strength, she began to realize the consequences of not getting tested for HIV/AIDS. She wanted to start an HIV/AIDS Support Group in her community so she could sensitize people on the importance of getting tested for the virus. However, nobody in her village was willing to join such a group. They still believed that AIDS was caused by witchcraft.

As a result, Menia began walking 9 miles to a support group in another community. Along the way, she began encouraging people to get tested and began helping people who were HIV positive. Sometimes she carried patients on her back to the hospital which was 15 miles away. She said she did this because she wanted to prevent people from dying.

While she attended the AIDS Support Group in another community she met Foloweza Milanzi – a Home-Based Care Volunteer with Somebody Cares. Foloweza encouraged Menia and as a result of their relationship, Somebody Cares was able to begin a Support Group in Menia’s community of Mngwanga.

Today Menia is  the Chairperson of the Mngwanga HIV/AIDS Support Group. In the past three years she has seen the group grow from 26 people to over 125!

Not only has there been numerical growth, but now, in her community, it is understood that HIV/AIDS is a disease — not the result of witchcraft (as was formerly believed).

Many in Mngwangwa and the surrounding villages see Menia as their champion, their hero. She has truly become a Champion for Change and is making a huge difference in the lives of those who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.