Meet Santa Enume
Santa Mary Enume has been a certified nurse since 1969, working both in her community and in the Aboke High school.The Aboke HIV Women’s Association (AHWA) was born out of an idea formed by Santa Mary Enume, in partnership with three key members. In 2003 AHWA was formed and Santa was elected as the Organizational Chair; the aim of the group being to provide services to those most affected by HIV in the Aboke sub-county. Through a partnership with CAP/AIDS Santa’s vision for AHWA was able to grow. The project provided Santa with training in life skills, income generating practices and counseling and helped her to gain skills in organizational management. With the counselling abilities Santa has been able to reach out to people in a vulnerable state and to efficiently provide needed services. In 2011, Santa was invited to a shared learning workshop in Kampala where she met with other local from Uganda and representatives from Ethiopian partners where she attended workshops in monitoring and evaluation, with an emphasis on documenting personal stories and experiences. In 2012 Santa received the opportunity to attend another workshop in Ethiopia. In partnership with CAP/AIDS Uganda, they shared the AHWA story and gained new knowledge from the Ethiopian partners to bring back to the project. Santa has no children of her own, but has been a caregiver to orphaned children. As one of the caregivers beneficiaries selected for the Livelihood Support project, Santa was a part of an Income Generating Activities (IGA) group who chose to raise piglets; each member chose to raise the piglets individually. The workshop in Kampala introduced Santa to another IGA group had started piggery instead of individually raising their piglets. This group experienced healthier pigs that were growing in numbers. Santa brought this gained knowledge back to Aboke and introduced the concept to her group.
At 69, Santa remains an active figure in the Aboke Village and in the organization.