By Piason Maringwa
The time when children born HIV+ died during the first six or so years after birth is long gone and we now have lots of adult people who were born HIV+ doing very well in life all over the place.
The question most people ask is how these people have navigated the rough terrain of growing up with HIV.
A lot of children grow up silently knowing that they’re HIV+. Schools have very limited capacity to handle and empower these children to fully help these vulnerable children cope with their positive status. I have been in the education sector as a teacher for many years and have in my own way helped quite a number of HIV+ children cope and a lot have grown up to be very successful people today and are very grateful to me for my efforts .In this week’s article as schools opening day beckons I shall look at some of the challenges faced by children living with HIV in their day to day lives.
I shall base most of my analysis on my experience as a parent who raised a child born HIV+ from babyhood to motherhood and as I write she is 31 married and mother to three HIV- boys.
A lot of people agree that HIV is no longer as lethal as it was some 20 years ago but the honest truth is there is still lots of stigma and discrimination to deal with for all those children living with HIV both at home and at school. It is therefore very important for both authorities and parents to help these children accept and cope with their status.
Government should create an enabling environment where being HIV+ should be treated as just any other health condition devoid of the shame, stigma and discrimination currently associated with being HIV+. Children living with HIV have a number of delicate requirements which need to be attended to on a daily basis. Parents need to help their school going children acquire enough medication for the whole term so that those in boarding schools have adequate supplies for the whole term. Schools Health departments should also keep some of these supplies ready at every school in case of emergencies such as when a child loses his/her supplies mid-term. School health departments should also have a member from the G&C department to help counsel children in need of help on HIV related issues during the term.
The Ministry of Primary and secondary education should work with the Ministry of Health and Child Care in ensuring that counseling and awareness programs are taken to every school’s door step to help children both positive and negative understand what being HIV+ means hence kill stigma and discrimination in schools.
A lot of work needs to be done to conscientise children on the importance of tolerance and acceptance of those living with HIV. The fear of being shamed and laughed at will drive many children into hiding leading to defaults and school dropouts .The need for tolerance can never be over emphasized starting from childhood into adulthood.
Children at secondary school level need lots of counseling regarding responsible courtship sexual reproductive health in the face of HIV. All things being equal I have always been of the opinion that HIV+ children should strive to get into relationships with same status partners to avoid further relationship and marital complications later on in life.
Parents living with HIV should try to avoid hiding their positive status from their children especially those born HIV positive so that they become familiar with their parents’ status. Not hiding our HIV+ status from our children helped in a big way when our daughter later on tested HIV+.
Piason Maringwa
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