By Pasquine | Ogunsanya
“I am grateful that my husband took me for a test when he found out his status.”
34-year-old Rose was puzzled when suddenly her husband requested her to go test for HIV.
"It was simply a random evening that he urged me to go and test, a test for HIV. He was the man; therefore, I had to submit and follow his instructions. Because I had been faithful to him and he had tested positive before and hadn't told me, he left our marriage instead of telling me after he was confirmed positive, which left me a little bit in shock. I sobbed like I was watching a soap opera while in the counsellor’s office and yelled out, "WHY?" The health professional was excellent and helpful in calming me down, telling me there are people living with HIV for over 25 years. Those words greatly encouraged me. At first, I hesitated to start mediation, I wasn’t forced either. I took around two weeks to think about it and I only thought about my children. I raised them to be strong and courageous because we weren’t a well-off family, and here I was supposed to lead as the example. My life changed for a while, stigma marred me and when I told some of my children, they were a little traumatised.” says Rose.
Rose made the decision to take anti-retroviral medication for the benefit of her health and her children with the support and encouragement from them.
I had to be tough and HIV was not going to bring me down since I was under double stress—my spouse had left, and I had to start taking medicine. In fact, I am happy that my husband decided to test me after learning about his condition. We are all dealing with something that is beyond our control. And it is our collective responsibility to face it, comprehend it, and deal with it.
Despite the effectiveness of HIV treatment, finding out you are HIV positive can be traumatic. Like Rose, you might discover that you need some time to think about things, and that's fine.
Alive Medical Services has been able to provide free HIV treatment and support to members of the community like Rose so that they can live happy and healthy lives thanks to the assistance and funding of various sources.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
