In 2005, Charles started suffering from a persistent cough. He was initially diagnosed with tuberculosis and put on simple treatment, but the medication never fully cured his sickness. The cough returned year after year, until his doctors recommended more extensive testing. It was then that he found out he was HIV positive.

“I accepted my status immediately and began my medication. I took the TB medication for eight months. I did not disclose my status to my wife, but she knew I had TB. I told her all the medication I had was for TB just so that she would not find out because I did not have the courage to tell her.”

In 2007, his wife left the house with their youngest child to buy items at a shop, but she never returned; it was the last time he saw his wife and son.

“I looked for her for months on end. I went to all hospitals, police stations, and all around the area. She was an orphan — estranged from her extended family — so there was no way of tracing her ancestral home. I was so broken when she left us; there were no signs that she would leave me. We had not fought, nor did we have any pending matters. We were happy together.”

He resigned to the idea that he would never find her, and so he shifted his focus to raising his two sons. He worked hard as a day laborer to provide food and education for them, but his declining health continued to prevent him from living a flourishing life. Charles learned about the Untold program in Ngando in 2021 through Victor – the center’s Community Health Volunteer (CHV).

“I wanted to join the program because Victor mentioned that I would receive medical assistance, especially when I did not have funds. I also wanted to learn all the skills he mentioned.”

Charles has enjoyed the group therapy sessions that have helped him grow socially and emotionally. He also enjoyed learning about conflict resolution in marriage, being faithful, developing healthy relationship behaviors, and learning to live in harmony with other people. Charles is currently learning how to make furniture and sandals in the economic empowerment sessions at the center and he has been practicing these skills at home. He hopes that once he perfects the craft, he will be able to open a small business. Charles has joined a savings group with some of his classmates at the center and continues to be one of the most vibrant and dedicated clients in the program.

When asked about the benefits he has felt since joining Untold, he said "There is a great improvement since I began taking medication. I can now walk to the shop without running out of breath. I can participate in all activities without strain. I am not the same man who came to the program. I feel like a normal, healthy human again.”