Turning her positive status to positive living
What concerned her the most was people’s attitude towards HIV positive people as she started talking to people at the clinic where she collects her medication. She saw how much people needed support.
Being HIV positive is still a taboo in some families and communities and because of that HIV positive people still fear sharing their status with loved ones.
This has led to some in the HIV community being afraid to take their medication.
They often fear the questions they will receive from people.
This week the EXPRESS shines a light on a woman who took a stand in fighting the stigma.
Founder of Asibhabhaneni support group Dudu Ramorwalo is on a mission of changing the lives of those who are HIV positive and also educate those who are affected.
Dudu is HIV positive herself and has known her status for 17 years.
She said that knowing her status has made her want to live and appreciate life even more.
“Being HIV positive changed how I looked at life. Even though in the beginning it was not easy because of how HIV was introduced to the world. When the disease was introduced people thought it was for promiscuous people only and for a long time people were ashamed of their status,” said Dudu.
She shared her journey with the EXPRESS of knowing her status and starting the support group. She said it has been a long one.
“The first time I tested and discovered that I was HIV positive I didn’t believe it. I was in denial for a whole year. I remember right after the counsellor told me my results I walked out of the room and said, not me. A year later I went back to test again and the results were still the same and from there I told myself that I needed to be honest with myself. I needed to start taking care of myself and make sure I lived a healthy life,” said Dudu.
What concerned her the most was people’s attitude towards HIV positive people.
As she started talking to people at the clinic where she collects her medication she saw how much people needed support.
“That is when I saw the need for a support group. Where people can feel the love and not feel different. We are all HIV positive and know the problems and difficulties we go through.
“I wanted to give them a family that will not judge them but love them and see them for who they are, not what disease they have,” said Dudu.
She said the support and love she received from her family when she disclosed her status was also the driving force for her to start the group.
“I was scared to disclose my status at first. So I started with a family friend, then my son and the rest of the family. They all accepted the situation and said they are here for me and will support me,” said Dudu.
She said that gave her hope and gave her the courage to speak openly about her status.
The support group started in 2014 and currently has over 50 members.
They meet once month.
“The group has grown over the years. I speak to people at clinics when they collect their medication and encourage members to invite others. We do have members who have not disclosed their status to their families and we don’t push them to do so. We respect their wishes and support them because it’s difficult to walk the journey alone. We become that family that offers emotional support and encourage them to take their medication and eat healthy,” said Dudu.
The aim of the group is to encourage members to eat healthy, take their medication, exercise, but most importantly, love themselves and not feel ashamed.
“We do different things to inspire each other. We don’t just talk about being HIV positive but also socialise by going on trips and doing different activities. We host our meeting in different places all over Gauteng because members are from all over and we also have some members in Durban and we are currently expanding to Mpumalanga,” said Dudu.
She said through this group she wants to inspire others who are not infected to stay HIV negative.
“Just because we live our life and appear to be strong it doesn’t mean it’s not difficult. The journey has its difficulties. So, I always say to those who are HIV negative, stay negative,” said Dudu.
She said one of the biggest challenges is stigma.
“People can be educated about the disease but there is still that few that still treat HIV positive people terrible. There are people who still think you can get the virus from sharing things or even touching them. It’s sad that we still have those people but that means there is still work that needs to be done to educate society,” said Dudu.
She said her wish is to see every positive person not die from the disease.
“If you are HIV positive you need to take your medication and live a healthy life. That is the song we sing at the group and we want to see that spirit to spread to everyone infected,” said Dudu.
For information about the support group you can contact founder Dudu Ramorwalo on 082 325 5627.
