Our Story

HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system - our body’s natural defense against illness. If HIV is left untreated, a person’s immune system will get weaker and weaker until it can no longer fight off life-threatening infections and diseases, which will result in death.

The story of HIV/AIDS in Uganda

The first AIDS cases in Uganda were reported in Rakai District in 1982. The disease spread rapidly among the general population with severe side effects not only on the population's health but also on its social and economic conditions.

HIV became a big issue about everywhere in Uganda as well as in Africa in general. A lot of people were dying in front of their families. Nearly every family lost a family member. Nobody wanted to talk about HIV/AIDS and there was a big ignorance among the communities.

In addition to that, people thought that if someone contracted HIV it was because of bad luck. They strongly believed in witchcraft and not in the possibility that it could be a real disease. People experienced a lot of stigma and discrimination and the one infected couldn’t accept they contracted the virus.

Hence the government started investing resources to reduce the spread of HIV. They wanted to make people understand the disease and how the virus is contracted. The idea was to expand the knowledge about the virus. But people’s behavior was not changing. People were not well informed about HIV and kept dying.

We had to act!

More and more children lost their parents. We asked ourselves

• How can we reduce HIV?

• How can we support orphans and children?

• How can we support vulnerable people?

• How can we reduce the information/knowledge gap about HIV/AIDS?

We wanted to mobilize families to support each other and to really improve their lives. That’s why in 2001 we decided with other interested and equally concerned community members to start KIFAD as a small informal group in Nansana. It was mainly focused on grieving, counseling, comforting each other and offer psychosocial support especially to all families who had lost their loved one to HIV/AIDS.

We tried to fill the information gap. I tried to share my experience in HIV/AIDS and in community management with the community. Additionally, we have interacted with other organizations and focused on our expansion.

Growing towards an HIV free future

Today we work with a really inspiring and encouraging team of 15 employees, national and international volunteers, and interns. Thanks to our donors and people that believe in our work we could establish KIFAD as a trusted organization. But our work is of course not finished.