“I met Sheck Mwamuzadi in Nairobi’s South C estate where I was working as a house help while he was my boss’s driver. We became friends and later on started dating secretly without the knowledge of my boss,” Leila Elizabeth narrates. Born in a humble family of two in Machakos, 19 year old Elizabeth dropped out of school in class eight. Her single mother could no longer raise her school fees.

“After I dropped out of school, my aunt promised to get a job for me, so that I could help my mother and my brother.” Just like she had promised, Elizabeth’s aunt got her a job and in 2010, she travelled to Nairobi’s South C estate where she got an opportunity to work as house help.

As an innocent and hard working lady, Elizabeth used to wake up early in the morning to do all her house chores.

While working as a house help, she got an opportunity to meet with her boss’s driver Mwamuzadi and they fell in love. “While our boss was outside the country, Mwamuzadi used to treat me like a queen. We used to go out to dance and drink,” she recalls.

A year later, Elizabeth became pregnant and had to leave her job and move out to live with Mwamuzadi.

The first few months of their stay, just like any other newly married couple, were filled with love and affection but this did not last long. The man changed and became violent and abusive.

“He would push me, throw things at me, call me names and humiliate me in front of neighbors. These episodes would often be followed by him apologizing but later, he would harass me for sex. He constantly demanded that I have sex to prove I loved him,” she says.

When she was six months pregnant, Mwamuzadi persuaded her to go to her Machakos home to help her mother with domestic work to which she obliged.

“Unfortunately while at home, I had a miscarriage while taking a bath. I informed Mwamuzadi on what was going on but instead of hearing me out and consoling me, he turned furious insulting me and making wild allegations,” Elizabeth holds.

Mwamuzadi called off the relationship and ordered her to pick up all her belongings from his house.

When she came to Nairobi to pick up her belongings, she was surprised to find Mwamuzadi with another woman in their matrimonial bed. “I took my belongings and moved to stay with my friend at East Leigh estate,” she says.

Three months later, after parting ways with the man,he called her and apologized again. Elizabeth, still hopeful that their relationship could work, forgave him and moved back with him and after a month she was pregnant again.

It was during the routine pregnancy test that she found out she was HIV positive.

“I was shocked. I couldn’t believe my eyes. My health was failing, my future was uncertain and my heart was broken. I thought this was the end of the world,” Elizabeth looks back.

She disclosed her status to Mwamuzadi but to her disbelief he dismissed the information and kicked her out accusing her of infidelity.

“I did not want my mother to know my status. I was so depressed that the person I loved had abandoned me after infecting me with HIV. I saw the whole world crumbling. I didn’t have money or a place to go to,” she says.

Luckily, a friend offered to accommodate her in Kibera where she did menial jobs so that she could have the day’s meal.

After nine months of her pregnancy, Elizabeth gave birth to a baby girl, who was HIV negative thanks to prevention of mother to child transmission.

She was unable to fend for herself and the young one and this prompted her to seek support from Mwamuzadi who declined.

She reported the matter to her area chief in Kibera and Mwamuzadi was contacted by the chief and it was then that he promised to take responsibility of his child.

“He promised to send me money in two weeks time but he didn’t. I had to go back to the chief and report him again and I was referred to CREAW, an organization I was informed dealt with children’s and women’s rights,” she says.

Elizabeth went to CREAW’s Kibera office where she received free legal aid and Mwamuzadi was called for mediation. During the mediation, Mwamuzadi said he was unable to take care of her since he was financially unstable and it was then that CREAW referred her to Uzima Foundation to seek help as they pursued maintenance charges against Mwamuzadi.

“CREAW helped me get access to food and accommodation at Mchanganyiko centre. They also assisted me in securing a loan that helped me venture into small business of selling charcoal,” Elizabeth says.

At the moment, Elizabeth says she makes Ksh 4000 profit daily from her charcoal business and admits it’s more than sufficient to cater for her child upkeep.

“I’m finally feeling like myself again. It doesn’t matter if you are HIV positive; life still goes on. I advise women to be independent and seek advice whenever possible,” she concluded.

Affection to infection: A woman’s journey through love and heartbreak.This story was written by Daisy Onkaba, Safari Africa Radio