“I’ve lost five children in total. All my children died within a few months of birth. It was only after I got introduced to the project that I realised that with the right care and support they could have been born healthy. I believe God gave us JTF, and I thank God for it”.

Abono Feo Marie Bernadin’s story

I had my first child, Florienne Mabelle, when I was just 18. Florielle died at 9 months in 1992.

My second child, Aureline Umuba, was born two years later, but died aged just 2 months

In 1998 I had a third child, Ugongu Desire, who died at 3 months. I think the cause was AIDS-related.

Four years later, I had a fourth child: a girl who was born prematurely and died at 5 months.

That same year, I had an HIV test. It was positive. My family disowned me and drove me from my home.

I was very ill for two years, but received treatment at a military hospital.

Then in 2006, I met an HIV positive man, Masias Efodu. We had a baby boy called Thierry.

Thierry was diagnosed with hydrocephalus and genital malformation. He was operated on at the National Social Insurance Fund Hospital, but lost his sight.

My husband’s family told me that a sightless baby is a “snake child”. They told me to throw him in the river. I fled from Masias and his family.

In 2007 I took Thierry to a clinic run by the Cameroon National Association for Family Welfare. It was too late to save him. At 16 months, Thierry died.

I then joined the IPPF JTF project as a Community Health Worker and Counsellor, to help women who were suffering as I had suffered.