This photo gallery contains photos showing a WSWM exhibition to the parents held at Mt. Rwenzori Girls SS (Kasese)

Many people think that because they or their partners are HIV positive, they can’t have HIV negative children. Recent developments in science have made it possible for an HIV positive person to have HIV negative children.

An HIV positive woman with an HIV negative partner can become pregnant without endangering her partner by using artificial insemination where the sperm from the HIV negative male partner is placed into the woman’s genital tract using artificial means rather than by natural sexual intercourse. Though using artificial insemination instead of unsafe sexual intercourse provides protection of the man from HIV infection, it does nothing to reduce the risk of HIV transmission to the baby. The baby can still get infected with HIV during pregnancy, labour and delivery and through breastfeeding.

If the woman is HIV negative and the man is HIV positive, the only effective way to prevent HIV transmission is by sperm washing. Sperm washing involves separating sperm cells from seminal fluid and then testing these for HIV before artificial insemination. The HIV virus lives in the seminal fluids and not in the sperm. Sperm washing is a very effective way to protect both the mother and her baby but is expensive and may not available in most health centres.

If both the man and the woman are HIV positive, it is still risky to have sexual intercourse without a condom. This is because there are different strains of HIV. If one is re-infected with a different strain, one is likely to get difficulties with antiretroviral treatment. Artificial insemination after sperm washing would protect the woman from re-infection. The baby can still get infected with HIV during pregnancy, labour and delivery and through breastfeeding.

ARVs can prevent HIV being transmitted from the mother to her baby. The Health care provider would recommend what type of ARVs and when best the woman would take them after carrying out the CD4 test and the viral load test. The CD4 test tells how much HIV has weakened one’s immune system and the viral load test tells how much HIV is in one’s blood.

What you are feeling are called mood swings. During puberty both girls and boys may experience sudden changes in their feelings. They may feel like laughing one moment and like crying the next moment. Sudden mood changes are caused by increasing amount of hormones in the body. Don’t worry you are normal. Mood changes are only temporary and will settle down with time. All people have mood swings as they grow from childhood into adulthood.

Vaginal fistula is a severe medical condition in which a fistula (hole) develops between either between the rectum and the vagina or between the bladder and the vagina after a severe or failed childbirth when adequate medical care is not available.

Vaginal fistula occurs when a girl or woman has an obstructed childbirth labour and does not get a Caesarean Section when she needs it. The obstruction may occur because the mother’s pelvis is too small, the baby is badly positioned or its head is too big.

The prolonged obstructed labour threatens the life of both the baby and the mother. During this prolonged labour, the soft tissues of the pelvis are compressed between the baby’s head and the mother’s pelvis bones. The lack of blood flow causes the tissue to die creating a fistula or hole between the mother’s vagina and rectum or between the mother’s vagina and bladder or both resulting in leakage.

If the fistula (hole) is between the vagina and the bladder, the woman gets urine leakage and if it is between the vagina and the rectum, the woman gets feces leakage.
Early marriages and early childbirth, domestic violence, sexual abuse, rape , female genital mutilation (FGM), malnutrition which is linked to under-development of the female body are all risk factors which may lead to vaginal fistula. Uganda has one of the highest rate of vaginal fistula in the world partly because of the very high rate of teenage pregnancy.

Most women living with vaginal fistula suffer from depression, abandonment by their partners, families and communities and live in isolation because of the constant leaking of urine and feces and the resulting smell.

Vaginal fistula can be treated through reconstructive surgery. Unfortunately, many hospitals in Uganda suffer from shortage of staff and medical equipment necessary to perform reconstructive vaginal fistula repair.

Oh WSWM!  WSWM!  WSWM!
You have done good things in Central SS-Lira
You have done the best things

Oh WSWM!  WSWM! WSWM!
We cannot thank you enough for what you have done
To the students of Central SS Lira
You have opened our eyes to the challenges of life in this world like
HIV/AIDS, emotional ups and downs, pregnancy for boys and girls etc
You made us know our rights and responsibilities
You taught us to protect ourselves from HIV/AIDS
You cared for us more than our parents
Oh WSWM! WSWM! WSWM!
We pray that God should bless you on our behalf
That you continue working to protect us students of Central SS-Lira.