By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
WORLD AIDS DAY STORY:
HIV Stigma is so familiar and you have probably heard of a story of a person living with HIV/AIDS suffering from stigma by her family, closest friends, spouses to mention but a few. A story of a young woman, lets call her Akidi, is not so far from what you have read but an expression of a victim of stigma at a place she hoped to find solace.
Born and raised at her grandparent’s home, Akidi went to school as any other of the children in ther village in pursuit for knowledge.
Bright and good at co-curriculars, she joined the college junior Drama club where she made friends with the sons and daughters of the rich in her village. At this moment, she felt like she had reached at the apex of her dreams.
One thing led to another, and a few months later, the college administrators had become so inquisitive to know who Akidi’s parents were, where they lived and what they did to earn a living. Could she be a daughter to one of the village’s popular dramatists or the people in colar offices? The curiosity became so high. Proud of her talent, Akidi was determined to make her college proud winning for them awards in Inter-District Drama Competetions.
It was perfect, until it wasn’t and things started Falling Apart when she fainted at the rehersals for a mega competition with one of the popular Private School from Kampala and the government Prime Minister was expected to preside over the Grand Awards event.
Akidi’s Drama Teacher and a senior woman were asked to rush her to a nearby Health Centre IV where she obtained medical care. Her guardians were informed and they visited her at the hospital for a patient care. Medical report was released and results indicated that Akidi was HIV positive.
Worried about how a young teenager had acquired the virus, the school Senior Woman asked Akidi’s guardian wondering if she had acquired it at school because she was in a boarding section. But her grand mother was quick to narrate how her parents had died when she was still young with mild symptoms just as did Akidi.
Thanks to heavens! she got recovered and was given Antiretrovial Therapy (ART) and other HIV effective drugs to help her manage chronic conditions and improve her immunity.
HIV was still a new disease and unpopular to many people. In fact, it was just common among club goers in Urban areas and the fishermen at most of the fishing landing sites in Rwenshama, and Katunguru in Katwe Kabanyoro Kasese District.
Akidi had not bothered asking the whereabouts of her parents for even death was rare in her village during those days. The guardians had kept the death of her parents as secret from her. She had herself not known that her son and daughter-in-law (daughter-in-law) – Akidi’s parents, had died of HIV/AIDS. She had accused her co-wife of bewitching her son and his wife causing them to die.
Akidi’s Drama Teacher was in a room when the doctors handed over test results to her grandparents. And as a saying in the West Nile Kiswahili speakers, “Asiri si ya watu wawiri,” literally meaning that a secret is not for two people, ideally, one can keep a secret when two are dead, Akidi’s drama teacher could not hold her HIV status by himself.
He started to discriminate her, advising other pupils not to play with her. Things would escalate, and other learners would listen to his advice. It kept getting worse as she was subjected to other characters not of her choice, separated from her closest friends and denied from participating in bigger competitions. She resolved to leave the drama club and thats when the physical abuse commenced.
Healing from Stigma
Feeling helpless, she reached out to the school chaplain for help. There was only so much he could do because the disease was just new in the area and according to reports from Kampala, patients could infect anyone that gets into close contacts with them. It was deceptive!
So, the chaplain turned her away. She tried to go back to her home in the village, but it was not possible. She had passion for her studies and was determined to become one of the country’s best social workers. She kept the determination and never lost focus.
The suffering continued, as she was discriminated, unwanted and abused by the people she thought would protect her for the rest of her life.
In the second term of her Primary Five, the district through the support from a foreign organization and The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) organized a three days workshop to create awareness to HIV/AIDS, counsellling among the adolescent teenagers in the region.
Akidi’s school was chosen a host other schools. To her, this turned to a blessing indisguise.
Today its me, Tomorrow its somebody else….., ” the TASO anthem opened the workshop followed by several speeches by counsellors and edutaining Drama sessions.
“We can save the children, we can save the future, if you and I change the way we live,” recited one of the actors in the TASO skit.
Meanwhile, in emotions not too far away, Akidi was being relieved of the stigma as her teacher and some of the learners that were inflicting abuses on her were being taught on living and supporting persons living with HIV/AIDS positive, above all, breaking the stereotypes sorrounding the disease.
The workshop provided safe space for psychological counselling, testing, stigma recovery, and created awareness on HIV/AIDS for the purpose of effecting prevention and redress.
If theres one thing that Ive learned, its that persons living HIV/AIDS stay home, in schools and places of work with their abusers. It is the worst experience of its kind, says Chemutai Esther a social worker in Kween District.
According to Chemutai, many young people with HIV have experienced psychologicaltrauma, high rates of abuseand stigma. She says that this increases traumatic stresses, poor physical and mental health outcomes as well as self hatred amongst teenage adolescents.
She urges that there is a need for care providers to give patients a sense of self controll, decision making, thereby fostering a sense of self-efficacy.
“Persons with HIV going through stigma need to be helped to develop adoptive coping and behavioral skills. Care takers and the general public should know that individuals with HIV are important people in the society rather than causing to them trauma and stigmatizing them likely to result into other devastating health consequences such as depression, mental illness and higher risks of HIV transmissin associated with risk behavior,” she added.
