Life is a struggle for single mother

By SHIRLYN BELDEN
FREDAH Keleba, 33, from Balimo, Western province, is a single mother of one living with HIV in Port Moresby.
She has lived with the virus for almost seven years now and she said it had been a life of hardship and trials.
But with courage and hope she was able to struggle through the years, solely taking care of her five-year-old daughter.
Keleba contracted the virus in 2005 during her second marriage as a result of domestic violence.
Her husband died that same year.
She has been on ART – antiretroviral treatment – supplied to her by the Salvation Army’s House of Hope at Ela Beach. 
She said: “I thought my second marriage would be a happy life but I got HIV and it is now a burden – a battle I am fighting each day being a positive mother having a
positive child to look after.
“It is a challenge every day and I take each day as it comes.” 
Asked what the World AIDS Day meant to her, she said: “It is a time when we reflect on how far we’ve come and remember those who have died of the disease and also remember those of us living with it.
“It is a humble and comforting time for me and my daughter.”
With determination visible in her eyes, she said the HIV/AIDS fight was everyone’s fight and the zero tolerance on HIV could
be achieved if we all fight together in one spirit.