Happy Birthday to Grandmothers and Grandsons

At (RED) we love birthdays. It’s a time when the work that you all do in supporting (RED) really hits home. Because of you and your purchases of (PRODUCT) RED, we’ve been able to get life-sustaining antiretroviral (ARV) therapy on the ground in Africa to people living with HIV, People who, thanks to funds contributed by (RED) initiatives, are celebrating their birthdays this month.

Little Katleho from Lesotho is seven this month. His mom, Caroline, is HIV-positive and every year around this time she stops to think about how Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission treatment (PMTCT) helped her give birth to her healthy and beautiful son. She was pregnant with Katleho when she learnt that she was HIV positive and was able to access PMTCT antiretroviral therapy.

It’s hard to believe looking at this beautiful photo of the two of them below that one of them is HIV positive and one is not. But that’s the power of the PMTCT treatment which your (RED) money helps finance in Lesotho, Swaziland, Rwanda and Ghana.

Caroline and her healthy son Katleho

From little boys to grandmothers: “This Thing” in Ghana turns 55 later this month. She goes by the nickname “This Thing” because stigma is quite a problem for many people living with HIV in Ghana. This lively and spritely HIV positive grandmother began taking antiretroviral therapy four year ago.

“This Thing” chuckled when she told me: “I’m strong, I can do anything a man can do”.

And she does work hard. “This Thing” is typical of many grandmothers in Africa as she plays a vital role not only in helping support her immediate family but also by helping to care for her daughter’s children so her daughter can work and earn some money as well. In fact, thanks to ARV’s which (RED) helps finance in Ghana, “This Thing” is just like any grandmother in her village.

Happy Birthday to everyone who has a birthday this month.

Greta