October is my birthday month and I have devoted three of my articles of October to my life journey with HIV.
Talking about HIV especially one’s HIV+ status has never been an easy affair but me and my family talk about it as if we’re talking about any other ordinary health condition. We have dymistfied HIV to a level where it is no longer shameful and frightening as it is to others. We could not have achieved this feat had it not been for both organisations and some people who gave us encouragement when all odds appeared piled so high against us.
My HIV journey has been long, adventurous and very tumultuous since around 1985 when after reading about the onset of a new and very lethal disease called AIDS straight away suspected that I had it because I had done most of the activities that were said to cause AIDS. I lived in suspicion from then up to 1999 when I tested HIV for real while undergoing TB treatment at St Luke’s hospital near Lupane town.
One has to sometimes praise God’s Grace for the life one is enjoying daily. God has been so kind to me and my family of three myself, my wife and our daughter born HIV+ in 1994 and now married and mother to three negative boys. If we don’t tell people that we are HIV+ noone can ever tell .We are so healthy and active .
On Friday 24 October 2025 I celebrated my 60th birthday with more than 30 years having been lived with HIV. We held a small party at our Mukoka village home in Gokwe South District with my family and a few friends. Meanwhile, congratulatory messages poured in from all over the world and I was honestly humbled by the love shown in those lovely messages especially one from my uncle Langton Mbakada in Australia.
When I look back from 2004 up to now I really feel very proud of the work that I have done and continue to do on the HIV landscape.Let me hasten to say that I could not have got this far alone as AIDs cannot be fought and won by one individual.There were and continue to be many other players on the scene who helped me get this far.
The Dr. (I can’t remember his name) who diagnosed my HIV did a very good counselling job on me and I am so grateful to him. I also want to thank all staff at St Luke’s hospital of 1999 going forward whose kindness and love for their patients has made St Luke’s my second home. There are still two or so staff Ms. Mafu or Mhlanga and Magumbo still working at St Luke’s 25 years later who were there in 1999.
My wife Mai Simba, our 2 children and my sister Mai Ndemera have stood with me throughout this journey and I owe all my life to them especially my wife. I have felt sorry for a lot of gentlemen who have suffered and died of neglect by their wives when they were suffering from AIDs and needed their spouses love most. Mai Simba is another kind of woman, so caring, loving, forgiving and very loyal. She could have let me die in neglect because of all the bad things I had done to her in the past but she chose not to.
Concern Worldwide and it’s dedicated staff came on the scene funding Kana Hospital outreach team with its dedicated team of nurses led by the brave and caring Sr. Anastasia Gorejena made inroads in an area spanning a 40 km radius from Kana Hospital. I being an HIV+ high school teacher at Mkoka Secondary then made a name for myself as a counsellor for all those who had tested positive and were referred to me by Sr. Gorejena and her team.Sr Gorejena’s team would come to Mkoka once every month and test people for HIV and all those new cases would be referred to me for further counseling and soon there were more and more HIV+ people and that’s when we decided to open Mkoka Support Group in 2004.
When Concern Worldwide left our area Kana Hospital continued with their outreach work. Since ARVs were non existent then we relied on an antibiotic tablet called Cotrimoxazole which proved to be very effective and sustained us until ARVs became available. Our support group did lots of work empowering HIV+ people accept their new status and be useful to both themselves and the community. It was exciting forming support groups and working with them and watching HIV positive people regain their good health and confidence.
Our support groups also helped many single and widowed people find marriage partners. Today some 20 years later it’s good to see all those formerly grave cases enjoying good health and going about their businesses all in good health with a lot of them showing great appreciation for what I have done for them.
I would also want to thank my personal friends who have stood with me throughout this treacherous journey among them :Mr Maturure Zvenyika former head of Mkoka Secondary, Phillimon Huchu , Joseph Supelo, Ephraim Gwatidzo, Ruvarashe Hove, Hon Prof Mavhima who helped in the publishing of my book “The Extra Time”. My 1982 class and Manunure High former students, staff and all learners of schools I taught at after testing HIV+, 1993 stream of Mutare Teacher’s College students who have stood with me throughout. The DSI and staff, former and current of Gokwe South District Education Offices.
National AIDs Council team and it’s front office team of the late Communications Director Medelina Dube MHSRIP, Tadiwa Nyatanga who have helped me by introducing me to the print, audio and visual media where I’ve met media personalities of repute whose support has made me part of them as I am now a regular contributor and columnist in many newspapers. I have also been hosted on many radio and TV stations. There are a lot more people whose contribution to my well being has been so immense but I can’t thank them enough due to space.
The fight against HIV and AIDs can never be a one man fight it needs combined effort .We can never win the war against AIDS by discouraging disclosure. All those of us living with HIV need to take the bold move and disclose first to our close relatives, friends and communities and take our medication in public without any fear whatsoever.
Piason Maringwa
0774322043
