“If all people living with HIV disclosed their status publicly we would realize that they are truly happy and successful people.There is a beautiful life out there with this HIV.. Believe me when i say this coz i’m a testimony” said 26 years old Doreen Moraa Moracha. She was only 13 when she got to know that she was HIV positive.
“My parents knew about it when I was 8. But they informed me about my status when I was 13,” she opened up in an exclusive interview with TUKO.
“AM A BEAUTIFUL STORY” is her mantra.
How did she contract this deadly disease. She was born with the virus to an HIV discordant couple whereby she is the only child among her siblings to have been diagnosed of HIV. Due to the fear of stigma and rejection, she was asked to remain silent about her condition through her teenage years. A relative of hers once disinfected her utensils after Doreen used it.
However, she could not continue to do this. In 2015, Doreen decided to go public about her status, a move aimed at offering encouragement and for others living with HIV. She also wanted to use her story to raise awareness about the virus and to help the fight against the stigma HIV still has in her community. She got protest from her dad on this.
“I was doing my attachment at TSC and most of the times we would go out to learning institutions for outreaches and HIV testing and while at the field, that is when I learnt that there was need for more information about HIV out there. My boss then, also pushed me that I should come out and try make a change with my story,” she recalls.
She, however, disclosed that this was certainly not an easy process and that disclosure took a lot of courage. “I was afraid considering the stigma associated with HIV. The first time my story came out and NTV shared it on their Facebook page and my friends were commenting how they know me and all that, I got scared and deactivated my Facebook account temporarily,” she said.
Emboldened, Doreen has been unstoppable at this ever since. She has been able to share her story at conferences, talk shows, and the very latest – the internet. Shee has turned to Facebook to share her 25-year journey with HIV. In a Facebook post, Doreen shared how she, and her mother traveled over 500km from Kenya to the remote village of Loliondo in Arusha, Tanzania to get a cure for the virus.
This village had shot to fame with the notion they have a herbal concoction purported to cure HIV/Aids, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, asthma, hypertension and any other ailment. “I wanted to get well so bad that I convinced my mum that we head to Loliondo for a cup of the herbal medicine. She agreed, but I didn’t get better and this led me to defaulting from taking my ARVs for 2 years which most definitely affected my health,” she narrates. “The journey has not been easy but I finally accepted my status and i’m using my story to end stigma related to HIV and to encourage people infected that they shouldn’t let a small virus that cant talk to control their lives,” she contends.
Her posts have since been gaining so much traction, commending her for being bold enough to share her story. Despite her condition, her photos have still attracted potential suitors who would love to get into a relationship with her. “I use my social media mostly Facebook for advocacy and motivational purposes and yes, I do get men sliding into my inbox, some even promising to take Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) dr*gs as long as I agree to date them,” she recounts. Her greatest piece of advice to the young people is : abstinence or use protection.
