Chronicle Of A Person Living With A Positive Status

I think one of the most fearful statements I’ve ever heard is, “Madam, you’re HIV positive.” Oh, what a day , one I will never forget.

Everything became blurry and I felt like fainting. At the time, I didn’t know much about it except the belief that it was a death sentence, which is far from the truth.

Recently, I joined a Facebook group where people share their stories. Most of them are not Nigerians but from other African countries. They share openly without fear of being known.
A lady talked about her journey and how she was told her status in the presence of her family, how they abandoned her because they believed she would never amount to anything again, and that she should just go somewhere and wait for death. 

She also believed her life was over. She said this happened in the early 2000s when there wasn’t much information about the virus and access to treatment was limited.
She said her aunty took her in and gave her herbs until she was able to access ARVs. When she realised two years had passed and she hadn’t died, she decided to start living again. 

She went back to school, made friends, got a job, and is now married with healthy children. Today, her family is doing everything to reconnect with her. Some of her siblings have not achieved as much as she has, and one is even dead  while she, the one they thought would die early, is still alive and thriving.
Her story reminded me of my uncles. One had sickle cell while the other didn’t. My grandmother believed the one with SS wouldn’t live long, so they didn’t invest much hope in him. 

He was even stopped from going to school because, according to them, he was always sick and couldn’t handle stress.
I wish he had believed in himself and pushed harder. He never married, and now he’s in his late 50s , alive and well. 

Imagine if he had taken his life seriously despite the condition; he would probably be doing well now, with his own family, just like many others living successfully with the same condition.

All of this reminds me never to give up on myself and never to let any condition define my life. I want to work, live, and enjoy life despite whatever challenges come my way.