The 24-year-old Kenyan lady, Doreen Moraa, who was born with
HIV has disclosed in an interesting interview with eDaily how she learnt of
her status while still in primary school.
Her story is touching yet a great lesson for those who still
treat HIV and AIDs like a death sentence. Doreen’s parents are a discordant
couple, meaning one of her parents is HIV positive(+) and the other one is HIV
negative(-).
She comes from a family of five siblings, one died a few years
back. She is the only child in her family living with the virus. About how she
got to know of her status, Doreen said:
“When I was aged 12 and a pupil in Standard Seven. During
one of my many hospital visits, I overheard my mum talking with my doctor. All
along, I was visiting the hospital, but I did not know what exactly was wrong
with me. I heard the doctor ask my mum: ‘When did you discover that she is HIV
(Positive)?’’
“I did not even wait to hear my mum’s response. I was
already confused. It found when we had already been introduced to HIV in class.
So, our teacher made it sound like it was a death sentence. I was shocked to
hear the doctor’s question directed at my mum. But after some time I thought to
myself: maybe I heard the wrong thing. I thus brushed it off.”
“The following year, my mum went into coma. She was really
sick. Actually, we had given up. We thought she was going to pass on. But then,
she recovered. And after fully regaining her health, she took me to hospital, I
got tested and the doctor disclosed to me my HIV status. He told me: ‘Doreen,
you will have to take antiretroviral drugs for the rest of your life.”
Doreen’s dating life has not been easy because telling
someone your status is rather scary because you are afraid of their reaction.
She once dated a guy whom she disclosed her status to.
At first, he thought she was joking and so they went to get
tested together. She came out positive and the guy was negative. He was shocked
and couldn’t speak on their way home. With that, she feels challenged to
disclose her status to someone because of their reaction.
As she went about her life and learning to deal with her
status, she set up a group called Hope Alive. It is comprised of young people
who spread the word that living positively is not the end of the world.Moraa
always encourage other people living with HIV and everyone saying,
“HIV is not a death sentence and the cure to HIV doesn’t lie
in some laboratory in America, China, Korea or Britain.”
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