COVID-19: Ewaa sacrifices his life to save several others

HEALTH     COVID-19

Is it acceptable to sacrifice one person in order to save the lives of several others? This question has been the subject of debate among people living with HIV, with reference none adherence to medication challenge which hit this group of people during the lockdown period.

The 18-year-old Oscar Ewaa can be described as a true hero who went out of his way to ensure that people living with HIV did not miss out on their antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) during the lockdown.

But it is not delivering ARVs to patients that makes news as much as the degree to which Ewaa was willing to sacrifice his life in order to save others.

Yes, the model of transport and the many miles he travelled to deliver ARVs add colour to his story.

Using his motorcycle and sometimes bicycle, Ewaa would collect ARVs and TB drugs from health facilities and deliver to patients in different districts in Northern Uganda including Apac, Lira and Kwania.

But when Ewaa, a resident of Ibgub village in Kwanid district, starts narrating what prompted him to trek over 10 km everyday from place to place to trace the recipients of the medicine, you will marvel about his big heart.

The beneficiaries would tell you that they could not imagine how their lives would be without Ewaa, and to him, they owe their continued existence.

Ewaa is a Uganda Network of Young People Living with HIV/AIDS (UNYPA)'s ambassador.

UNYPA is an organization of young people living with HIV in Uganda, and its ambassadors are young peer leaders who have been mentored to help and support other young people living with HIV with psychosocial support, referrals, drug access to mention.

Why did he want to sacrifice his life for others?

Ewaa says the reasons for his willingness to sacrifice his life are altruistic- because defaulting medicine could be detrimental to the lives of people living with HIV.

"Yes, if HIV-positive people don't take their ARVs, the risk of repeated illness due to opportunistic infections and the developments of drug resistance forms of HIV infections are increased," says Ewaa who was born with HIV.

Adding: "So, there was need to strike back, not to wait for them to die. People who are not infected with HIV may not appreciate this. The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines state most categorically that ARVs must be taken every day for life without fail," says Ewaa

 Ewaa's motivation

As he delivered ARVs,  Ewaa was particularly mesmerized to come across  a Child-Led Family in Kwania district, comprising two orphaned children,  aged eight and ten years,  under the guardianship of their sickly 88-year-old grandmother.

"I was touched! I had empathy for these two orphaned children who knew only their grandmother, with no means of communication to any relatives outside Kwania. On my third visit, i was shocked to learn that their grandmother had died. The children were all out on their own," says Ewaa emotionally.

In the event of the death of the grandmother, the burden of support for the remaining family fell immediately on the shoulder of Janet Aboki, who is the elder (10 years) of the two children. However, as expected, she had no clue of where and how to start.

These innocent children then started relying on the meagre support from their neighbours which too was running low. They had absolutely no contact to any relative who would come to their support. I was now faced with the question of how i would help them, Ewaa says.

The district responded swiftly, heading out immediately to check on the family. They provided welfare support that included 50kgs of food, mattresses and mats for the children.

Ewaa says he derives a lot of pleasure in seeing the innocent orphaned children put a smile on their faces.

"I was overjoyed. Sometimes when you do something and you see it making other people's lives better, it makes you feel really good. For now, i have embarked on tracing the relatives of the children" a delighted Ewaa commented.

Adding," There are high prospects of finding their relatives. So far, our efforts are becoming fruitful because i have been able to find one of their relatives living in Lira. We now need to find a way of getting them in touch with the children."

Though Ewaa would die to see that the life of these two children is transformed, he also cares for many other peers most of them living deep in remote areas, meaning reaching their various facilities to get drugs was very difficult during the time of the lockdown since there was no public transport means.

Before the lifting of the lockdown, Ewaa had delivered ARVs to 314 patients and to 11TB patients in the villages of Teiluua, Ajali, and abali landing site, Aalalam in districts of Apac, Lira and Kwani.

He says being UNYPA ambassador, he knows better that a person living with HIV does through.

He recalls the ease with which people got access to treatment in health facilities before the lockdown and was wary of the threat to life that lockdown paused to them.

"Before all this, it was easy for people to walk or use public transport to reach their health facilities for medication," he says

But with the lockdown that became difficult, and for an area with a high HIV prevalence rate, it was putting the lives of these people at risk. It was up to people like us who knew this to do our best in availing treatment to those in need of it and this is where the whole delivery idea started"

"Living with HIV requires one to be very patient and understanding. Personally I was shaken when I got to know my status and wondered what was next. However I appreciated that this is who I am started my medication and now here I am, playing my part to improve the lives of others in my area" Ewaa said.

He adds that the good news is that in those rural areas, the issue of food insecurity is not so much pronounced since they cultivate their food, otherwise another principal is that ARVs must be taken with food.

Ewaa, who on a normal day supports his health centre with counselling and guidance for HIV and TB patients, says the main challenge he encountered as he delivered the drugs is the fact that some places have really horrid terrain that poses such a challenge to reach.

The roads may be poor and the slopes very steep, forcing him to walk longer distances in these places even when he has a motorcycle.

Nicholas Nuwagaba, the Team Leader at UNYPA applauds the work of the ambassadors like Ewaa in the different parts of the country, saying it shows the power of all young people to create change regardless of their status.

"Our theme as an organisation this year is ‘Changing The Narrative'. We want to move away from always waiting for government help for things we can do ourselves and I am proud of Oscar and all other ambassadors for being a testimony to this"

Niwagaba says Ewaa is one of the 62 UNYPA Ambassadors delivering health services to their peers countrywide. Before lifting the lockdown, they had reached 476 clients with ARVs drugs, 60 clients with TB drugs as well as 21,664 condoms distributed in different communities.