An old friend was greatly surprised to hear that I was paid nothing for all the newspaper articles I write every week since I started in 2013.
He went further to ask why then I kept on writing articles that paid nothing in the end and I told him that through writing God rewards me with good health and the encouraging comments I get from readers are very inspiring. I also find something to keep me busy throughout every week among other things. I also get to be known by prospective readers of my other published works such as books. Writing and reading have always been my hobby and passion so everything is in order.
This week’s article comes as both the last for 2025 and the first for 2026 since I am writing it in the last week of December 2025 but it’ll be read in the new year I shall try and make this article more of advisory than anything else.
Living with HIV has been such a frighteningly adventurous and intriguing journey for me, it has become a normal way of life that I am getting to enjoy because to me nothing has changed for the worse since the day I accepted it as part of my life. The trick behind living with any condition be it very good or bad is to accept it and learn everything around it. I know the fear, the shame, the dread of dying an excruciatingly slow and painful death and other feelings that I experienced when I first realized that I was HIV+.
The stigma and discrimination I would face and how my children would soon be orphaned and my wife of 10 years would soon be widowed. Through prayer, encouragement and efforts by health personnel and my wife’s love and acceptance here I am telling the story of God’s Grace and resilience.
Testing HIV positive is not a curse neither is it a death sentence. There are a few questions one has to ask oneself. Whose mother’s child should test HIV positive if not me. Is it the only cause of death and if not why then worry about being positive. I asked myself many questions like this as I tried to come to terms with my positive results and I decided that I would accept and live with my new status as comfortably as I could.
There are a few lessons that I have learnt during my over 30 years with HIV that can help one live a very healthy life with HIV. Disclosure is the first step and those of us who tested positive before ARVs were readily available will testify that it was disclosure at our support groups which made us survive the initial phase without ARVs. I remember the long walks from Mkoka to Kana Hospital in Gokwe South District over 30 km away as a group to collect our monthly supplies of the life saving Cotrimoxazole tablets an antibiotic which was our first line drug then.We would find lots of other HIV+ people crowded there with some coming from as far as Gokwe Centre over a 100 km away to escape being seen as people living with HIV and be stigmatized those who knew them back in Gokwe. We would face the long walk back home from Kana with our precious supply of Cotrimoxazole tablets. For several years this trend continued until Kana Hospital embarked on their outreach programmes later on bringing the tablets near us their clients.
Adherence is another trait to be adopted by those of us living with HIV. We must follow the medical personnel’s advice on how to take our medicines by strictly following their instructions. I have at times due to unforeseen circumstances defaulted on my medicines on a few days but have maintained my calm and resumed my medicine uptake with no hitches. The problem a lot of us face after a short time default is the restlessness, anxiety and fear that we go through after a minor unintentional default. However as much as possible let’s avoid defaulting on our medicines.
Major causes of defaults among others are: unplanned and sudden trips, fear of being seen taking one’s ARVs hence one avoids taking them because one is continuously in a public place which makes it difficult to take one’s tablets. A sense of being fully healed therefore seeing no reason to continue taking one’s ARVs. Falling in love or getting married to someone whom one has not told one’s status and fearing rejection hence one stops one’s regular ART uptake .
I used to drink and smoke before and after I tested positive but I later discovered that alcohol and smoking greatly affected my health up until I decided to quit the habit in 2011.A lot of HIV+ people have destroyed their otherwise good health through alcohol and smoking. One’s health is so important that no one should expose their lives to danger through beer and smoking especially those on ART. If I had continued drinking and smoking I don’t think I would be alive today.
Another area that needs self control on for HIV+ people especially men is womanizing. A lot of men especially those that have survived and have the means such as money is their insatiable appetite for women and sex. I have seen a lot of my fellow HIV+ friends going out with ladies of questionable characters and I have on many occasions tried unsuccessfully to caution them and quite a number have lost their lives in the process. I have been tempted too but knowing the risks involved I have stood my ground and told myself that once beaten twice shy. Life inspite of its difficulties is still sweet and worth living.
Finally as we approach 2026 my advice to all people living with HIV is to work hard and put together something that will see you through in times of need and illness. When one is ill and has some form of wealth relatives and friends won’t shun them. But if you are poor and ill they’ll let you wallow in your vomit and excrement only showing up when you are dead. There are lots of income generating activities that anyone can do to uplift one’s life. Let’s aim to uplift ourselves guys and leave something for use in times of illnesses or when we die.
Those wishing to fall in love and get married please do so responsibly by falling in love with someone who like you is HIV positive. Don’t be fooled by badly beauty and healthy looks go and get tested first and make informed decisions. Don’t listen to lies from those who are negative that they love you and would like to get married to you even though you are positive, they’ll humiliate you once they’re tired of you which is now the most trend of most marriages. We advised our positive born daughter to fall in love with someone positive like her and she complied and today she’s happily married to a positive man and they have three HIV negative boy children to date.
Finally I want to wish you all a very Prosperous New Year in 2026.Personally I have already made my plans for 2026 and I hope you also have.
Those wishing to join our HIV Same Status Whatsapp group Whatsapp me on my number +263774322043.
P. Maringwa
