World Aids Day 2015 – For Mercy

Mercy was born in Homabay on the beautiful shores of Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. Mercy was not born HIV positive but died from HIV when the opportunist cancer called Kaposi Sarcoma took over her body and ultimately took her life at the age of 20.

Mercy 1995-2015

Mercy’s father left the family home when she was young, and she was brought up by her mother. They are a low-income family and her mother struggled to afford to send Mercy to school. When an uncle stepped in and offered to help and pay for Mercy’s school fees, her mother did not refuse. True to his word the uncle paid for Mercy to go to school, he took her into his home and ‘cared’ for her. This care consisted of nightly sexual abuse and it is here that Mercy was infected with HIV. When she started to get sick, the uncle’s generosity ceased, and she returned home to her mother.

Mercy’s mother took her to the local hospital, and she tested positive for HIV. Unable to accept the diagnosis her mother refused to allow her to start antiretroviral treatment (ART).

Mercy’s health suffered over those years and in time she developed Kaposi Sarcoma. By 2015, the cancer was widespread, and her legs were double in size and covered in soars. In light of the now obvious symptoms Mercy started ART, but it was too late. Mercy needed more than just antiretrovirals and her mother had no money to treat cancer and told her the family could do nothing more. 

In September, Mercy met Juliana Odindo a young HIV activist born with HIV. Juliana took Mercy to Nairobi using her own funds to see if they could find cancer treatment for this engaging and beautiful young woman. Juliana was able to bring joy and hope to Mercy in the last weeks of her life, they took numerous selfies like young people do and laughed repeatedly. Mercy told Juliana of her plans to continue her studies and one day go to University.  They found a bed for Mercy on the cancer ward in Kenyatta hospital, but her prognosis was poor. Mercy’s body gave up the fight for life in the early hours of the 7 of October 2015.

I dedicate this series of small paintings to Mercy, they highlight women’s beauty  but ultimately their vulnerability. Each week, around 4,500 young women are infected with HIV and half of them won’t get treatment. Thousands more are denied an education and with it their voice. Unable to negotiate sex let alone safe sex, and by the nature of our female anatomy we are left unprotected, naked if you will.

My fight is to help women access education, my belief is Good Education Leads to Independence, Security, and Empowerment – www.gelise.org – it is also my name.

The funds raised from the sale of my paintings go directly to pay school fees for girls living with HIV in Kenya and to fund support groups for adolescents. Nancy, Peace, Catherine, Molly, Phenny are in school today because, ART and art, make a difference. Each painting tells a woman’s story; each one is unique, beautiful, special, and each one needs to be seen and heard.