SOUTH AFRICA: Mandisa Dlamini, “You don’t know the real Gugu Dlamini”

DURBAN, 8 June 2011 (PlusNews) - In 1998, HIV/AIDS activist Gugu Dlamini was beaten to death near KwaMashu township outside Durban after publicly disclosing her HIV-positive status. Her death, an example of the depth of HIV stigma, shook South Africa. Dlamini’s death almost destroyed her daughter, Mandisa, who was just 13 years old when her mother died. Now 25, Mandisa spoke about her experience as part of this year’s Nkosi Johnson memorial lecture, named for South Africa’s youngest HIV activist who died in 2001, at the SA AIDS 2011 Conference. full testimony

SOUTH AFRICA: Nonqaba Jacobs, "She says it's from Satan that you are positive"

KHAYELITSHA, 31 May 2011 (PlusNews) - Nonqaba Jacobs, 28, comes from a rural community outside East London; both parents were HIV-positive and she tested positive in 2004. In 2005 she moved to Khayelitsha, near Cape Town, where she found treatment and attitudes towards HIV to be a world away from what she experienced in the Eastern Cape. These days she is doing well, but is worried about her mother, who has gone off her antiretrovirals in favour of "faith healing" at the Christ Embassy church. full testimony

SOUTH AFRICA: Monde Kenneth Hobongwana, "The information is there, treatment is there, but still people default"

KHAYELITSHA, 19 May 2011 (PlusNews) - In 2008, Monde Kenneth Hobongwana, 37, tested HIV-positive. A student of business management at the time, he had been tested before, and blames risky behaviour for his status. He says that having a support structure is key to accepting one's status, but acknowledges that among men, it is still a difficult subject to discuss openly. full testimony

SOUTH AFRICA: Queen Tinyiko Nwamitwa-Shilubana, "People didn't want to come out"

JOHANNESBURG, 4 May 2011 (PlusNews) - Queen Tinyiko Nwamitwa-Shilubana has often found herself at the crossroads of South African history and has helped usher in democracy and expand women's rights. She has also helped define the role of traditional leaders in the fight against HIV. full testimony

KENYA: Amina Hassan*, "I suspect he knows his status and is taking ARVs secretly"

NAKURU, 3 March 2011 (PlusNews) - For 10 years Amina Hassan*, 37, trusted her husband and had a happy married life in Nakuru, in Rift Valley Province, western Kenya. Even if her religion allowed him to marry other wives, he had always assured her that she was enough, and he would have no reason to marry anyone else. But she told IRIN/PlusNews that life changed when her husband went to work in the port city of Mombasa and he returned a different man. full testimony

SWAZILAND: Thabile Xaba, "I can take the ARVs now if I like but... I must consult the ancestors"

MBABANE, 1 March 2011 (PlusNews) - Most Swazis go to traditional healers if they feel ill, but in a country with the world’s highest HIV prevalence rate healers are struggling to cope. Thabile Xaba, 37, a healer who has been diagnosed HIV-positive at a clinic, told IRIN about her experiences. full testimony

ZIMBABWE: Elizabeth Matambanadzo, "I was shocked at the HIV-positive result because I had never had sex"

NYANGA, 24 January 2011 (PlusNews) - At first Elizabeth Matambanadzo, 18, did not think she was cut out to be part of a group of young people helping to take care of the sick and elderly. Now, months after joining Family Caring Trust (FACT) in Nyanga in Manicaland Province, she says helping others living with HIV has helped her to come to terms with her own HIV-positive status. full testimony

SWAZILAND: Thembi, "Even the children, they call a person with AIDS a `rotten potato’"

SIPOFANENI, 5 January 2011 (PlusNews) - Thembi (last name withheld) is a 33-year-old HIV-positive mother of three who has lived in rural poverty all her life. She lives alone with her children amid the low green hills of Swaziland's central Manzini region, while her husband is away working in South Africa. full testimony

KENYA: Grace*, "I finally found the courage to ask, 'Are you gay’?”'

NAIROBI, 30 December 2010 (PlusNews) - Grace is an attractive brunette working in Nairobi. Until recently, she was dating Will, a stylish 20-something Kenyan. She told IRIN/PlusNews how the relationship broke down, leaving her with fears about HIV. full testimony