AIDS in Uganda: Caroline's Story

Caroline Nantamu was in many ways typical of women in Africa infected with HIV by their sexual partners. She tested HIV positive when she was pregnant with her youngest child, Joseph.

African women usually learn of the virus when they visit ante-natal clinics, but the men often deny carrying the virus or infecting their partners. Caroline's husband never admitted to having AIDS. He died soon after she was diagnosed.

Remarriage and death, including two of Caroline's sisters who died of AIDS, eroded the extended family network upon which most Africans depend. When Caroline died at 36 from an AIDS-related illness she left behind four children; Patrick (12), Justine (9), Mary (6), and Joseph (3).