Jackline's Story

Jackline Adhiambo grew up in Siaya, Kenya, raised first by her mother and then by her grandmother after her mother died when Jackline was three. Her grandmother passed away just a week before Jackline's national primary exams, becoming a loss that shaped one of her clearest memories from that season.

"I was the only student who never received a success card," she recalls. "I had no one to wish me well in my examination. I felt alone, and devastated."

Jackline moved to Nairobi as a young woman to work as a maid, and later married a man who worked fixing tiles. In 2009, a routine visit from community health volunteers led to an HIV test, and a diagnosis she wasn't prepared for.

"I never believed I would have such a disease," she says. "I wasn't feeling sick or showing any signs of weakness."

The years that followed were difficult. Jackline and her husband lost a child, tried traditional remedies before turning to medical treatment, and each carried the weight of self-stigma that kept them from consistent care. 

Jackline eventually started antiretroviral treatment, determined not to let the disease progress as it had for her husband. Even so, stigma kept pulling her away from the very care she needed.

A Referral and a Turning Point

A clinician eventually referred Jackline to Untold's center in Kawangware, located within a local partner church. She waited two weeks before walking through the gate.

"The best part about coming to the center is that it is located in a church," Jackline says. "The minute I walk through the gate, I am just a person. This has made me feel safe to be myself and openly talk about my status."

Since joining the program, Jackline has built friendships with other clients, found steady support through group therapy, and disclosed her status to her family. Something she once thought impossible.

"We come and talk, laugh, cry, and even though you may have come feeling depressed or stressed, after a session you feel lighter," she says. "I leave each group therapy with my head held high and with a smile."

Building Something New

Jackline and her husband now adhere consistently to their medication, something she credits to the adherence lessons from her center's counselors. Through the program's savings group ministry with Hope International, Jackline started a donut business. She and her husband are saving to pay off loans from the group, with hopes to expand the business further.

"The center counselors have shown me that I am loved and cared for," she says. "There is never a day that they do not take time to listen to me, pray for me, and encourage me."

Jackline's story is one of many taking shape at Untold's centers across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and South Africa. Places where clients find not just treatment, but community, counsel, and a path toward economic stability. The work continues, one client, one center, one story at a time.