I am Rodah, I got to know AJAN 10 years ago. I met AJAN at a time when I needed help and when my family and the community, where I was living, had already neglected and rejected me because of my HIV status. I needed a shoulder to cry on. I was sick, desperate.

Through a friend, I met AJAN at a conference for young people, here on Thika Road. Since then, AJAN has supported me and taken care of me. I found a family. Fr Michael [Czerny, founding Director of AJAN] took care of me as a daughter. I am glad because I am who I am today, after all these years, because of AJAN. I was at the edge of death but AJAN brought me back to life. They took care of me and of my son. 

I have been with AJAN since then and they’ve never let me down, they have always been there for me. Just recently, I buried my second child, from cancer, a three-year-old boy, and AJAN was there for me throughout. Whenever I am down, I know I have friends; I have family at AJAN. I can call anyone. From the security guard, to the accountant, to the director, they are all my friends. They’ve never shut their doors and hearts to me. Nothing happens at AJAN and I am not involved. I don’t need a pass to enter AJAN because I am one of them and they have shown me that.

I was infected in 2002 and I am still alive. I am a proud mother of one, of a 19-year-old boy. I still see hope, I see life, I want to be there to be called a grandmother and I believe in that. There is hope whether you are HIV-positive or negative, there is hope. All you need is love and support, nothing else. People can give you money, but it won’t help you, but when you know that you truly have someone who can listen and give you love, that is truly unconditional love, you can see light at the end of the tunnel. I have found true friends.