Strength in scars: Gachau’s fight against HIV to helping others

It is a chilly afternoon in the sprawling Kaptembwa slums in Nakuru City, Kenya. Business is buzzing outside Mother Kevin Hospital. The hospital sits in the heart of this informal settlement and serves most of the residents. 

This is home to 47-year-old Minne Gachau. She is an HIV-positive mentor mother. Minne helps other HIV-positive pregnant women to give birth and raise their children without infecting them. 

Minne is a mother of two. She learned she was HIV-positive in 2006. This was after her husband died of Tuberculosis adenitis. She says the disease was not well diagnosed at the time. 

“It is when my husband died, that I decided to go for a HIV test and found out that I was positive”. She says.  

She was in denial and too scared to tell friends or relatives about her status. This changed when she took her 8-year-old son, who had been sickly since birth, for tests. He was also found to be HIV-positive. 

Minne’s mind was a rollercoaster of emotions. She wondered how she would afford antiretroviral drugs and manage the situation.  

Later, she learned the drugs were free. “My son and I enrolled in a treatment programme immediately. I realized that drugs were free and available.” She says.  

Further tests showed her son had a low CD4 count, meaning a high viral load. He needed urgent treatment to suppress the virus. 

Two weeks after starting treatment, Minne noticed a change. Her son had gained weight and his appetite had improved. This gave her hope and courage. The boy who once visited the hospital every month for chest congestion and diarrhoea was now healthy and playing like other children. 

“After I noticed improvement in my son’s health, I finally decided to go for Antiretrovirals.” She says.  

Being 29 years at the time, she had lost of hope. With little information about HIV, Minne’s hope of getting married again and having children was fading. That changed after she joined a support group. 

Today, Minne is married to an HIV-positive husband. They have a young daughter who is HIV-negative, and they live happily as a family thanks to ARV drugs.  

Her firstborn son was in denial when she told him he was HIV-positive. He could not understand how, as he had not had sexual intercourse. That was the only way he knew HIV could be transmitted. 

Later, he accepted his status and started taking ARVs. Today, he is in his twenties, working, and supporting his parents. 

Mentoring mothers and fighting stigma 

In 2014, USAID advertised an opportunity for a mentor mother under the Tujenge Jamii project, an implementing partner of PEPFAR in Kenya. The role required a mother who was HIV-positive and had an HIV-negative child. Minne was a perfect fit. “I was hesitant to apply for it but my friends kept on pushing me to try. I tried and I got the job” Minne says.  

Her job involves giving health education to both HIV-positive and HIV-negative pregnant mothers. She teaches them how to maintain a healthy pregnancy. For those who are HIV-positive, she teaches how to prevent mother-to-child transmission. 

“When I joined there were so many cases of mother to child transmission in this area, now it has decreased.” She says.  

As a mentor mother, Minne finds satisfaction in knowing her work has helped others avoid passing the virus to their children. She also helps them enrol for antiretroviral treatment, which she distributes from her office. 

Today, Minne Gachau is a pillar of hope for people living with HIV in the Kaptembwa slums and beyond. Her daily presence at the hospital reminds patients that being HIV-positive is not the end of life or dreams. She shows that anyone can achieve their goals despite challenges. She is proof that there is always a better tomorrow.

Why support should continue 

Minne is saddened by recent news that the U.S. government may cut USAID funding for African countries. This funding supports HIV treatment through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). 

“PEPFAR has been key in achieving the 95-95-95 goal. 95% of people living with HIV knowing their status, 95% of those diagnosed on treatment, and 95% of those on treatment achieving viral suppression,” she says. 

She is worried that there will be a claw back of the gains already achieved so far in fighting HIV in Kenya. She says that a total cut of the fund, might lead to increased infection among discordant couples, mother to child transmission and create drug resistance.  

“Deaths will be the order of the days just like the way it was in the 1990’s when there was not ARV’s. That will be a disaster” she says.  

The U.S. government has donated more than $110 billion to the PEPFAR program. This is the largest national commitment in history to fight a single disease. This has resulted in millions of lives being saved. It has also led to the prevention of HIV infections, and strengthened efforts to manage the global HIV/AIDS crisis in over 50 countries. 

According to the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC), about 1.378 million people in Kenya are living with HIV. In 2023 alone, there were 16,752 new HIV infections. Of these, 39% were among adolescents aged 15 to 24, highlighting the challenges young people face. 

The council also reports that Kenya’s national HIV prevalence rate is 3.3%. However, it rises sharply to 18.7% among people who inject drugs. Despite progress, AIDS-related illnesses caused 20,478 deaths in 2023, including 2,607 children aged between 0 and 14. 

 HIV in focus

This news story has been published as part of our HIV in focus news network. This is a network of writers and journalists from focus countries, dedicated to delivering news on HIV and sexual health. The network aims to amplify the voices of communities most affected by HIV and share the stories that matter to them.

About the writer 

Daniel Kipchumba is a journalist and a media trainer based in Nakuru city, Kenya, with 12 years of active experience in radio and online news reporting. He placed second in the 2025 Uganda Journalism Awards (UNJA) in the East Africa-wide category for reporting on the Productive Use of Solar Energy in agriculture (PUSE).

He has won several grants from Organisations both within Kenya and across the world including Seed Savers Network Kenya, African Uncensored, Media Council of Kenya, Aga Khan University Pakistan, Internews Europe, Internews Kenya among many to produce a blend of stories on crosscutting subjects,

His feature stories have been published within Kenya and across the world including Thomson Reuters, Dialogue Earth, Newsweek, Context, Openly, County Climate Monitor, Talk Africa and many more. He reports on Health, Climate change, Conservation, agriculture and food security.