Asenath Muthoni

Asenath Muthoni; age: 47; marital status: widowed; 2 children

Asenath has 2 children and lives on a 1/4 acre farm in Inwanjau about an hour outside of Chogoria. She tested positive for HIV in 2005 after her husbnad told her that he was in the last stages of AIDS. Her CD4 count at the time was 107, but she was able to pull it up to a stable level with the help of good drugs and family support. She is now healthy and optimistic about her HIV status and enjoyes singing and working on her farm.

Her husband's AIDs had progressed too far, unfortunately, by the time they caught it and he died late in 2005. His grave is a single tombstone that lies between the house and the corn fields that he once helped with. Her husband Lened's full time occupation, though, was a traveling salesman, and, as such, brought in a comfortable income. Times have been difficult financially since his death, forcing Asenath to sell at market the beans, corn, and bananas that they normally would eat. Her parents have also been very helpful in paying for her children's school fees and supplementing their food. They have been a great source of inspiration as well as her VHI group.

Asenath's greatest hope lies in her sewing. As a little girl, her mother taught her how to sew sweaters which she give to her family. Her father recently bought her her own foot-powered sewing machine so that she can increase her sewing and perhaps start a business. Asenath buys fabric for 500 Ksh, sews for 2 hours, and then can sell it for 700 Ksh. Currently, Asenath waits for someone to commission a sweater so that she has the initial money to buy fabric. If given a VHI loan, she would invest in fabric and threads so that she could make ready-made clothes that she could sell in the market along with her produce.

When life gets better and her cash flow increases, Asenath first wants to buy a water tap for her home for drinking and irrigation . For now, she walks 1/2 hour to the river and back 4 times a day to have enough water for cooking and drinking; she hopes to cut down this time so that she can devote it to sewing and working in her farm. Also, she wants to help out her aging parents by assisting with her children's school fees. Her son Kent is 18 and wants to become a teacher; her daughter casty is 14 and wants to go into nursing. Her children's future is the most important thing to her, so she encourages them to go to school even though she doesn't know how much more education she can afford.

Asenath has been a responsible member of her merry-go-round group and really enjoys both the financial and moral support from her group. Being in an all HIV positive group allows them to encourage each other and fight stigma. July was her month to receive money from the group which she used top buy fertilizer for her nepea grass and a couple of colors of thread. She is very excited to be a part of VHI and looks forward to the day when her group will get loans.