HIV-positive youth in club

When he was eight, John* was informed that he was born with HIV. Now 21, he told Namibian Sun that he was so devastated he contemplated suicide believing that he would be reincarnated in a healthy body. Before he found out, he recalls how his mother told him to always take his medication otherwise he would die of a “heart-attack or high blood pressure”.He eventually grew tired and stopped taking the unexplained pills, prompting his reluctant mother to disclose his status to him.“She told me ‘my son, you and I, we have HIV’ and then she started crying. I thought I was going to die immediately and even thought of hanging myself. My days were dark.”John has since joined the teen club at the anti-retroviral clinic at the Katutura Hospital where his life has taken a completely different turn. He is now an optimistic young man who dreams of becoming a public speaker. Like John, Netumbo* and her twin sister religiously took the pills and also only found out at age 8 what they were for.“My mom always called us and said we should come and get our sweets. The neighbours wanted to know why we always had money to buy sweets.”She explained that it was always a nightmare because the pills were big and hard and made them vomit. They too joined the teen club because the world “out there” did not want anything to do with them. The ‘club’ was established in 2010 by the Positive Vibes non-governmental organisation and is aimed at bringing together teenagers born with HIV to provide them a platform to share their problems and challenges. They also receive health education including how not to default on medication. Teenagers who have found out about their HIV status are eligible to enrol in the club where the psychosocial support programmes available. Nineteen-year-old Nadia* serves as board member and has become the self-appointed advocate for the club. She does this mainly be reaching out to “unfamiliar” young faces when she reports for her own follow-up visits to the clinic. “It is not always easy, they push you away emotionally. But I always try and speak to them and tell them that their family is here. We are their family because only we understand how we feel,” she said. Nadia, herself a timid and shy girl when she first reported at the club, said it has “unlocked her sparkle” and helped her to accept her diagnosis and now see it as a blessing in disguise.Tales from club members show that they still struggle to adjust in the real world which forces them to completely shun treatment.According to Linda* she always sleeps with one eye open when she is with friends because “you never know when they will go through your stuff”. Linda’s boyfriend left her when she had disclosed to him and as a result plans to keep her secret for the rest of her life. “I feel I will be rejected again and I am not ready for that. I should probably just stay like this and only when we talk about sex will I disclose,” she said. UN work According to the Unicef ‘For Every Child End Aids’, 7th stocktaking report report for 2016, 1.6 million new paediatric infections have been prevented since 2000.It further states that just half of the 1.8 million children aged 0–14 years living with HIV are on treatment, and treatment initiation in sub-Saharan Africa only starts on average at four years old.The report therefore calls for solutions for this vulnerable population and advocates for the prevention of new infections through improved access and retention in care, as well as testing and starting treatment early, as the best ways to end Aids among the youngest children. JEMIMA BEUKES

HIV-positive youth in club

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

Please login to leave a comment

HIV-positive youth in club

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

Please login to leave a comment

Login