Black Excellence: Harerimana Ismail
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/20/nx-s1-5746630/hiv-aids-trump-administration-aid-cuts
Harerimana Ismail hasn’t had a paycheck since the beginning of last year. He’s kept working nonetheless.
When the current administration paused foreign aid and issued stop work orders in January of 2025, almost all U.S. foreign aid projects were halted. That included the termination of Ismail’s work as a community health worker at the Kabale Regional Referral Hospital in southwestern Uganda, where his salary – roughly $50 a month – was paid for by a U.S. grant. He’d been a community health worker for eight years.
But he’s kept going door-to-door to make sure that children who have HIV are still taking their medications, connected to medical care and feeling supported.