Naomi's HIV Story
by Ryan DayWe continue Ryan Day's series of personal profiles from the Faith Alive clinic in Jos, Nigeria with Naomi. Here is Ryan's story, along with the rest of the series.
Naomi, like almost half of all Nigerians, is Muslim. Her husband died while
she was pregnant with their third child, and it was then she decided to get
tested for HIV. She found out that both she and the baby were positive, but
could not afford treatment.
Eventually she found out about the Faith Alive clinic. She was not sure they would welcome a Muslim patient, since she knew the clinic was run by Christians. When she arrived, she found that Faith Alive treats many Muslim patients and makes every effort to help them, despite the religious tension in Nigeria. They counseled her about her status and started her on Anti-Retroviral drugs. Sadly, it was already too late to save her son – he died the day after she came to the clinic.
After burying her child, Naomi continued as a patient, and then became a staff member at Faith Alive. She now teaches knitting at their Social Services center, and serves as a helpful bridge to the Muslim community whenever the staff does community education. She explains her position this way:
“I feel as we are serving one God. So what I believe is – your faith [is what is important], that is what I believe. So being in a Christian mix, I didn't see there being any reason for saying anything about it, because I still feel that I have my faith, that I am Muslim. In this Christian organization, they didn't force me to be a Christian.”
Nigeria is a country divided almost equally between nominal Christians and Muslims. Both sides have been guilty of perpetuating ethnic strife and violence, and both sides claim to be the only way to peace.
Women in Naomi’s situation have it particularly hard. She cannot openly convert to Christianity without risking the loss of her family, children and even her life. The director of Faith Alive no longer encourages Muslim converts to Christianity to proclaim their new faith openly, having witnessed too many tragedies. Please pray for strength and safety for people like Naomi.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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