Faustin*, 34 years old, and his wife Olga have three children together. Faustin was transferred from MSF’s clinic in Mpoko displacement camp to Hôpital Communautaire. The couple are both HIV positive, while Faustin also suffers from extra-pulmonary Tuberculosis which is not detected in the sputum.
I have many professions. I used to be a driver but in my last job before falling ill, I was a guard. As I worked at night, I had malaria many times. Each time, I had very high fever with temperatures of over 40 degrees. I treated the illness each time in vain. One day I went to the pediatric hospital in Bangui to have my lungs x-rayed. They also tested my sputum. Three days later I got the results: The sputum was negative but there where spots on my lungs.
One Sunday my wife wanted to go to church but in the end stayed at home. If she had left that day, I would have died. While snoozing, I started shaking and couldn’t breathe. My wife called a taxi and brought me to the MSF clinic in Mpoko camp. They found out that I was severely anemic and I received a large blood transfusion. Then they transferred me to the Hôpital Communitaire. Here they extracted three liters of pus from my lungs, and they will repeat this today.
Olga, his wife, chimes in: I had felt pain for a while and as his brother worked in the hospital, he asked me if I was scared to get tested for HIV. I said no and Faustin and I, we went to together and both received a positive test result. Since 2016 we have been on ARVs and we’ve been three times already to collect our medication.
Faustin continues: It is important to respect the meetings with the doctor who prescribes your medication and to come on that day. He is your God on earth. If I was in another medical institution not with MSF, I would have to pay and would risk getting into debt. I don’t have any problems with taking my medication. Just sometimes there is scramble at the site where we get our medication. Us men we are patient. But the women are not and want to be served first.
*Faustin and Olga’s surnames are withheld.
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