By Piason Maringwa
There is comfort in numbers so some people say. Knowing that one is not alone in one’s suffering makes things a bit easier.
When I tested HIV+ in 1999 I had already seen lots of people suffering from HIV and even AIDs. I knew too that my life was now in great danger as I was now looking death in the face. The formation of support groups in the early 2000s brought hope to many people living with HIV as we now had somewhere to share our common fears, hopes and experiences.
In our area the first support groups were initiated by Concern Worldwide a non governmental organisation from Ireland working with local hospitals including our own Kana Hospital in Gokwe district.
Prior to 2000 HIV/AIDS had generated so much fear within the country populace that anyone testing HIV felt that death was just by the corner and some committed suicide to avoid the slow, embarrassing, humiliating and painful death that AIDs was famous for. This was the time many people died on a daily basis and no family in Zimbabwe can say they never lost a member to AIDS. This was when AIDS had gained so much notoriety and had been given many fearsome names like Shuramatongo, Chazezesa, Go Slow among others.
Concern Worldwide funded Kana Hospital to carry Out Reach programs where they would counsel and test people for HIV .These outreach programs were the precursor to the formation of support groups. We formed ours in April 2004 and this group has survived up to this date and is the mother to Manoti and our Whatsapp “Same Status Group”
Mukoka Support group taught me and all the other members a lot of things about positive living with HIV. We held weekly sessions every Thursday and once every month Kana Hospital outreach team would visit us at Mukoka B/C for more counselling and testing sessions. New HIV+ members would be referred to our support group for further counselling.
Among the lessons we learnt in our support group were encouraging each other to soldier on in spite of the odds piled so high against us. We also encouraged each other on adherence to our medication and not to default. We also encouraged widows and widowers as well as single men and women to marry from amongst those who are also positive to avoid being humiliated later on in marriage. We taught each other the importance of disclosure and fighting off stigma and discrimination. We also taught each other on how to endure illness gracefully and avoid overburdening those taking care of us unnecessarily. When one is terminally ill one should know that those not ill should enjoy their lives normally.
Overally support groups are a big source of information and are the way to go in this era of funding withdrawals by major donors such as USAID and PEPFER We now need more as support groups at this time than ever before because People living with HIV need lots of information at this time than ever before because we need to know what is happening with regards to our medication. Information on the current situation regarding HIV is very important. This information can easily be relayed to people via support groups.
Lack of information can lead to confusion and stress leading to many avoidable deaths .All the gains made in the last thirty plus years will go to waste very soon and we will be plunged in the pre ART era where many people died due to lack of knowledge and ART medication.
I am inviting those who wish to join our online Support Group “Same Status Group” to Whatsapp me on my mobile number +263774322043 for addition to our group.
