Kemigisa is cashing in from trash

Barbara Kemigisa, a 31-year old HIV activist, turns empty tins of Anti Retroviral drugs into flower vases, baby cribs, chairs, tables, which she sells to earn an income.
This unusual idea was borne out of necessity.

In 2016, Kemigisa was expecting her second child but did not have money to buy her baby a crib. Her husband thought they could carve something out of the few empty ARV tins they had around. They are a discordant couple—wife positive, husband negative.
The baby crib they made caught the attention of their guests. So out of the many compliments from the guests, the couple realised they were onto something. “Initially this was my husband’s plan. He thought I would make something for our baby from the empty tins I had kept. Little did I know the tins would turn out to be business for me and a group of youths,” she says.

This was more than 20 years ago.
At that age four, Kemigisa was molested by her teenage relatives. She recalls that sex became a game she thought any child would freely engage in as her uncles took turns on her, daily. When she was older her relatives started bribing her with pancakes to buy her consent and secrecy. She did not feel the pain. She did not detect the danger, even at school, until she tested HIV positive at 19.
Then, Kemigisa, who was in her Senior Six vacation in 2009, had also conceived her first child. Her world was shrinking. She was scared and confused.

With the beginning of her motherhood her education ended .
After the birth of her child Kemigisa chose to openly, but creatively speak about her condition. She started making earrings labeled HIV positive. Society did not welcome it. But she persisted.
Today, Kemigisa is the founder and CEO of Pill Power Uganda, an organisation that trains and employs other 60 youths living with HIV.
What started as an idea to improvise for her baby has today turned in to real business.

Getting started
Kemigisa gets her raw materials from Uganda Cares in Kisenyi, The Aids Support Organisation (Taso) and Baylor Uganda. “As patients come to collect more ARV doses (at Taso or other hospitals), they return the empty tins,” she explains. She describes marketing her product as hitting many birds with one stone because she is able to sell as well as sensitising people about HIV.