YAOUNDE, Cameroon, 14 January 2009 Jacqueline sits on the tattered couch in her two-room home, where she struggles to raise two children alone. At age 32, Jacqueline is living with HIV and has lost one daughter to the virus. Her five-year-old son Giaum is also living with the virus. After months of worrying alone about her sons health and receiving minimal support from the local clinic, Jacqueline decided to go the UNICEF-supported Chantal Biya Foundation, which she had seen advertised on television. It was at the Chantal Biya Foundation that Giaum was finally able to access free treatment. It was also where Jacqueline met Genevieve, the head of a UNICEF-supported advocacy group for mothers living with HIV. The group is a network of 30 volunteers providing an emotional safety net for afflicted families and helping them to cope with the challenges of living with HIV. The volunteers started the association in 2003 with the aid of a doctor at the foundation, who realized that medical care alone could not adequately combat the high levels of discrimination and stigma that still confront patients here.

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