Mathakane joined m2m as a client participating in support groups and now works for m2m as a Site Coordinator in Mafeting Hospital, in Lesotho. When Mathakane first came to the program, she was reticent to share her feelings, ashamed of the past and fearful of the future … but through her role at m2m, she opened-up, exposing her vulnerabilities in order to be healed. So when UNICEF Lesotho decided to feature her story, in a video tapestry called Lesotho Voices, it truly marked Mathakane’s coming of age. In her personal portrait titled The Blessing, Mathakane speaks of the tragedy of losing her immediate family to AIDS, her work with m2m, and the blessing of giving birth to a baby born free from HIV.

By sharing her journey, The Blessing was instrumental in showcasing m2m’s work on the ground, illustrating real-life situations of women and children in Lesotho. Little did Mathakane know that this film would attract the attention of UNICEF UK, and as a consequence, she would be invited to the UK to represent m2m at a special HIV/AIDS and PMTCT-awareness raising campaign hosted by UNICEF UK, on 27 February 2008.

At the event, Mathakane joined UNICEF UK ambassador Jemima Khan on a media campaign to raise consciousness about the “unwanted gift of HIV passed from mothers to their babies.” Mathakane joined Khan on a crusade to promote UNICEF UK’s four minute movie, The Gift, a dramatization of a new poem by UK poet Simon Armitage.  In the film, the poem is narrated by Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

It was against this backdrop that Mathakane had a once-in- a-lifetime opportunity to address the gathered stakeholders and decision-makers, to muscle more effort towards the commitment made in 2007 by G8 leaders to help raise $1.5bn to stop HIV-positive pregnant women from passing the virus to their children.

Mathakane is still hopeful that throughout the world, babies born from mothers living with HIV will one day have the chance to live beyond their second birthday. It is that spirit that allowed her to break the barriers of her life to light a beacon of hope for the mothers and children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in Lesotho.

Mathakane’s triumph amidst adversity and her courage to live positively and educate women in Lesotho through first-hand experience is that quintessential ingredient that makes the work at mothers2mothers important. “My baby’s name is Tlhonolofatso. In English this means Blessing, it is a blessing that my baby, who is called Blessing, is HIV negative,” she says.