Living Positively

Yesterday I travelled to Mazowe Highschool to present a prize to a student who won first prize in our "Fighting HIV/AIDS Together" writing competition. A friend in Canada sent some money for prizes, and this student was ecstatic with his $25US (I would have been too - that's 8 months' salary!) It was encouraging to see these hundreds of boys whistling, cheering and jumping out of their seats because they were so proud of their colleague. Right now someone in Zimbabwe is being infected with HIV every 3 minutes. If we can't reach our young people we're in trouble. So we had 2 hours of a special HIV/AIDS assembly. I went to Mazowe with the Education Secretary, a drama group and a courageous woman named Ellah. Ellah gave a talk on "Living Positively with HIV." When Ellah told the boys she was positive, there was evident shock in the room. She looks so healthy! I admire Ellah a lot. She is honest, courageous, and determined to live well. She didn't speak in English, but she told me part of her story on the drive back to Harare.

"I met my husband when I was 18. I was at a Salvation Army youth retreat, and I was thirsty, so I went into a hotel to get a drink. I had my tambourine with me. My husband was there and his brother said to him, 'you should go talk to that girl - she's beautiful.' So he approached me and said he just wanted to be friends. So I gave him my phone number and address. He seemed nice. He started calling and visiting and he was so sweet. Our first date was to an ice cream parlour. I'd never been to one before. We were engaged and married within 6 months. Our marriage was so happy. We had a son, and I have so many happy memories. I was 26 when he died - a painful death from meningitis. I still shudder to think of his last days. The night before he died, I left his hospital room, but he called a nurse to bring me back. He was crying, and kept saying "please forgive me, please forgive me." I didn't know what for. Later I got tested, and discovered that I was HIV+. I was angry. I asked his family why they had not told me that my husband was HIV+. They said they were waiting for him to tell me. I guess he never thought I'd marry him if I knew. I was angry and bitter for a long time. But I am on ARVs, and I just want to help and counsel people to end stigma and pain. I want to live. I want to live positively. My son supports me. When I think of my husband, there is still lots of pain, but I loved him. Actually, this song (on the radio) was played at our engagement party. I was so happy then."