IDA MUKUKA GRANDMOTHER TO GRANDMOTHR FIELD REP THE STEPHEN LEWIS FOUNDATION

IT WAS IN 2003, WHEN THE HEIGHT OF THE AID/HIV PANDEMIC WAS SWEEPING AWAY THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF AFRICAN'S THAT THE STEPHEN LEWIS FOUNDATION WAS BORN. THEY HAVE SEEN A GREAT POSITIVE CHANGE OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS OF COMBATING THE HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC. 

Ida Mukuka, is a widowed mother of two biological children and an orphaned son. In 2001, soon after her brother died of AIDS, she began working as an HIV counselor. Ida advised HIV positive pregnant women on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission and provided care and support to people living with HIV. Her remarkable story is chronicled in Stephanie Nolens book: 28 stories of AIDS IN AFRICA. In 2003 while working as an aids counselor, Ida tested positive. After learning her status, Ida became an even more vocal and passionate activist for people living with HIV and AIDS. She was permoted to the role of DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH. at the CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH IN Zambia ( CIDRZ), where she helped to create support groups and a pure education program while people living with HIV and AIDS were provided with counseling and support services to the public offering antiretrovial drugs.

Ida's leadership and activism earned her a fellowship to study at the Coady International Institute at St Xavier University in Halifax Nova Scotia. While studying at St Fx she was awarded the Catherine Fleming Award for International development. For the last five years, Ida has been a full time Field Representive for SLF in Africa where she has used her skills and experience to help build the capacity of grassroots AIDS organizations throughtout Sub Saharion africa.

* Contact info: www.stephenlewisfoundation.org  and www.grandmotherscampaign.org 1-888-203-9990 ext 230