MOZAMBIQUE: Sousa Domingos Chilaúle: "(They'd) get up from the bench when I sat down"
Since his diagnosis in 1996, Sousa Chilaule has become a counsellor to HIV-positive patients and started an association for PLWA
Maputo, 18 February 2008 (PlusNews) - Between counselling HIV-positive people and being a leading member of the Xirilu Xa Kudumba (Tears of Hope) association of those living with AIDS, Sousa Domingos Chilaúle spends most of his time encouraging others to be open about their status. It's a far cry from the days where even his closest friends avoided him because he was living with the virus.
"I grew up on the outskirts of the city of Maputo, [the capital] in the Minkadjuine neighbourhood, where I still live today. It's hard to know exactly how I caught the virus, but before I got sick I was a young man who liked to drink a lot and go to nightclubs. It's easy to be vulnerable in that kind of atmosphere. I'm sure I must have gotten involved, without protection, with a woman who was infected.
"The first symptoms of AIDS began to appear in 1996. I had a very resistant bout of malaria and suffering from tuberculosis. In April of 2000, a doctor at Chamanculo General Hospital in Maputo advised me to take the test, and the result came back positive.
"My life turned into a nightmare; at the time, discrimination in Mozambique was greater than it is now. When I took the test there still was no antiretroviral treatment in Mozambique, at least not for people without money. People believed AIDS was the same thing as death, and I would go to sleep every night thinking that I was going to die the next day.
"I've experienced many moments of discrimination. The behaviour of people in my neighbourhood, for example, shows that they are unaware of, or don't understand, the epidemic. When I was very sick, my neighbours considered me a threat to their health. They wanted me to stay far away. Even at church, some of the faithful would go so far as to get up from the bench when I sat down beside them. This was very hard for me.
"Nowadays I spend most of my time providing counselling to HIV-positive patients, and I give lectures at schools and universities. I'm the founder and vice-president of Xirilu Xa Kudumba (Tears of Hope), an association of people living with HIV and AIDS.
"I decided to go public because I realised that that was the only way others can get more strength and stop seeing the epidemic as something 'otherworldly'. I'm a messenger; I help a lot of people, and this makes me happy."
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Theme (s): HIV/AIDS (PlusNews),
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]