17 Mar 2020

 Ms Bonolo Selaledi, a 25-year-old HIV/AIDS activist from Gabane, has learnt to accept her HIV status and live with it against all the stigma.

Having been born with HIV, she said she has faced a lot of stigmatisation, lost friends and stayed in a psychiatric hospital.

“I found out that I was HIV positive when I was still at primary school, but then it did not make enough sense as I was young. It was only when I got to junior school that reality sank,” she said.

Ms Selaledi, who was intimidated by a lot of pupils who always made fun of her at school, fell into depression and later got admitted at Sabrina hospital in Lobatse.

She explained that at Sabrina, she got to understand how miserable other people were and realised that her kind of depression was nothing compared to theirs.

She said after being released, she started attending counselling sessions and became a peer leader in one of the groups she was in.

Ms Selaledi said having attempted suicide four times, she figured that she had to live and be a source of encouragement for those who were going through the same thing.

“Slowly I began to accept my status and open up more about it and over the years, I took the stigma with boldness,” she said.

Ms Selaledi said she has started campaigns to raise awareness for the month of youth against HIV/AIDS in Gaborone and surrounding areas.

She explained that her goal and desire was to see HIV infected persons being confident about their status and treating the virus like all the other viruses.

“A lot of young people are living secluded lives because they fear being labeled; the truth is that indeed we are HIV positive and that should not in any way steal our peace,” she said.

She said self-acceptance dealt away with fear and speeded up healing, noting that for the community to accept someone they themselves have to accept themselves first.

“Self-acceptance also acts as an encouragement to adhere to the advice of the doctors and take our medication on time and without fail,’ she said.

Ms Selaledi explained that health facilities also discriminated against HIV positive people.

“I always wonder why in most hospitals and clinics we are attended separately in a secluded caravan as if HIV is airborne,” she said.

She added that a lot of people on ARVs would rather go far to collect their medication fearing being seen entering a secluded caravan labelled HIV/AIDS services.

Ms Selaledi also raised the importance of letting those one associated with to know their status.  “I once made that mistake and slept with someone without protection and disclosing to them first, luckily my CD4 count was high and the virus was not transmitted to him,” she narrated.

She said unfortunately for her, she got pregnant and the boy told her to abort the child as he was not going to be responsible for it.

She, however, said she managed to stand her ground and went through the pregnancy with a positive mindset and eventually gave birth to a baby girl.

Ms Selaledi said she used to cry thinking that she would never find a spouse who would accept her with all her flaws.

“At times I got angry that my mother could have done things differently and enrolled in PMTCT and all this could have been avoided, but it is what it is, acceptance is the only option,” she said.

She said 2020 came as a blessing for her as she found someone who loved her and has accepted her for who she was.

Ms Selaledi has appealed to the Ministry of Health and Wellness, together with its implementing partners, to combine HIV/AIDS and mental health activities because she has observed that HIV positive people fight depression from stigmatisation. Ends