Here is a brief look at the lives of four HIV-infected individuals who are presently being served by Ikhwezi:

Kenny
Age: 48
Place of Residence: Khaya Litsha township
Occupation: Manual Labourer (Road pavement) on contract
Weekly Salary: ~R200-300 (approximately $30-$50CDN) when there is work

Background Information:
Kenny was first diagnosed with HIV in 2002 at a local health clinic when a nurse suggested he be tested for the virus because of a questionable rash on his face. However, it was only after his third HIV test four years later that Kenny began to accept that he was indeed infected with the virus. Kenny had led a fairly promiscuous life up until 2002 and believes that it was unprotected sex with an infected partner that gave him the virus; Kenny had never heard of HIV prior to his diagnosis and thus failed to use any means of contraceptive when partaking in sexual activity. Kenny was referred to the Ikhwezi Wellness Centre in January 2006 by the Life Line centre and he has been attending Ikhwezi twice a month ever since. Since accepting his positive status, his wife has been tested and it was found that she is also positive. They share a nine year old son who has never been tested for HIV.

How HIV has affected his Life:
After being diagnosed with HIV and seeing many of his friends die from the virus, Kenny stopped drinking and smoking and began living a healthier lifestyle. However, Kenny subsequently lost a number of close friends when he disclosed his status to them because they feared they might become “contaminated” by his presence. Indeed, even when Kenny tried to educate his friends about HIV and safe sex practices they turned away, believing he was “preaching” to them and acting “above” them. Kenny also found that upon revealing his positive HIV status to women he was interested in becoming sexually active with, almost all “ran away” from him. Until this day, Kenny has failed to reveal his status to his immediate family as he fears being ostracized by them and does not want to “start a fight” with them.

Ikhwezi’s Impact on Kenny’s Life:
Kenny has noticed a significant improvement in his overall health since becoming a patient of Ikhwezi. Kenny has gained a significant amount of weight back, and no longer feels lethargic and weak which he attributes to the daily vitamins and supplements the nurses at Ikhwezi provide him with free of charge; with this renewed strength, Kenny is now able to hold a physically demanding job unlike before, when he remained unemployed. Additionally, when Kenny comes hungry to Ikhwezi, he is extremely appreciative of the soup, tea and bread he receives from Ikhwezi staff. Kenny is also indebted to the adherence monitors at Ikhwezi who he believes are extremely accommodating on giving “second chances” when he occasionally misses appointments.

Kenny’s Continuing Story:
Kenny insists that he is not afraid to disclose his status to others and knows that he still has a long life ahead of him and continues to do all the things he wants to accomplish. In addition to his wife, Kenny has a steady girlfriend who claims she is also HIV infected but they use a condom as good practice when having sex. Kenny is not involved in a support group with Ikhwezi at the present time but hopes to join one soon.

Vuyeka
Age: 37 years old
Place of Residence: Mdantsane township
Occupation: Selling chips, paraffin, and sweets to children in Mdantsane
Weekly Income: ~R57/week (~9CDN)

Background Information:
Vuyeka contracted HIV from her husband during unprotected sex. Although her family tried to convince her to leave her husband because they knew one of his girlfriends had died of AIDS, she stayed with him because she was in love with him and felt she couldn’t leave him. With the onset of severe meningitis in August 2004, Vuyeka decided to get her blood checked; when the test results came back positive, she was referred to Ikhwezi by a friend of her sister who was receiving treatment from the centre. Vuyeka recounts that she became “mentally disturbed” during this period with the combined impact of meningitis, her HIV positive diagnosis and her husband leaving her once she disclosed her status to him.

How HIV has affected Vuyeka’s life:
Vuyeka has experienced the intense discrimination from her family that so often goes hand in hand with HIV. She explains that only one sister in her entire family accepted her status initially; however, now that she has regained her strength, her family has slowly begun to contact her. To this day, only her immediate family knows her status—she will not tell her friends or neighbours for fear of stigmatization and isolation.

Ikhwezi’s Impact on Vuyeka’s life:
Vuyeka was too weak to even walk into the clinic when she approached Ikhwezi’s doors in 2004 and now she reports feeling strong and healthy. Ikhwezi has helped her understand and accept her status and has guided her on living positively. She has been on ARVs since 2005 and continues to take daily supplements and eats according to the nutritional program outlined by her nurses.

Vuyeka’s Continuing Story
Vuyeka doesn’t have a boyfriend at the present time, but she is certain that the next time she engages in sexual intercourse she will use a condom to protect both herself and her partner. She believes one of the most crucial lessons she learned from Ikhwezi is the need to demand that a man use a condom and she hopes this message is relayed to other women in South Africa. She has also learned that ARVs are not a healing drug and therefore, will not cure her of HIV but will aid in slowing the process of full blown AIDS. Vuyeka has also come to appreciate the importance of accepting her positive status; she believes that Ikhwezi helped her understand that she is still the same person she used to be before HIV, only now she must take extra care of her health in order to ensure that she can be the mother to her children for as long as possible.

Matilda
Age: 53 years old
Place of Residence: Mdantsane township
Occupation: Not working; worked at a factory for 20 years before she was laid off. She lives off her government grant which is R820/month (~140CDN)

Background Information:
Matilida was first tested for HIV in 1999, after a heavy onset of fevers, headaches and overall physical pain. She was infected through sexual intercourse by her infected husband who failed to tell her that he was infected when they began engaging in unprotected sexual activity after a long separation. In 1999, Matilda’s sister took her to a local hospital to get tested for AIDS and when the tests turned out positive, she was referred to Ikhwezi by Dr. Nonkosi Ngumbela.

How HIV has affected her life:
Matilda’s family has been overall extremely supportive and empathetic to her since her diagnosis. In fact, her children were not surprised when she told them she was HIV positive because they knew their father was positive. Her family remains her support network today and she is so grateful that her family “still loves me.” Matilda is extremely outspoken about her status and is always encouraging others to get tested if they have any inclination that they may be positive. In fact, every month when she journeys in a local taxi to Ikhwezi she informs the patrons of the taxi to “get tested and know your status…then if you’re positive, please come to Ikhwezi and the sisters of Ikhwezi will take care of you.”

Ikhwezi’s Impact on Matilda’s Life:
Matilda lights up when discussing Ikhwezi. She repeats that “Ikhwezi has been too good for me and I am so proud of them.” Before Matilda came to Ikhwezi, she was confined to a wheelchair because she was too weak to walk and suffered from intense back pain, but since patronizing Ikhwezi, she feels like a new woman and feels “quite normal.” She is indebted to Ikhwezi for counselling her and explaining that AIDS “isn’t the end of the world” and that with the proper vitamins and medicines one can live a longer, healthier life.

Matilda’s Continuing Story
Matilda has sworn to never have sex nor engage in any sort of romantic relationship with a man since her status was revealed to her in 1999. Instead, she prays that God will continue to keep her strong so that she will be able to care for her two-year-old granddaughter; the child’s father was stabbed to death last year and Matilda has not heard from the mother of her granddaughter since. Matilda has since taken sole responsibility for the child. She uses her own as well as her mother’s government grant money to raise her granddaughter. Matilda started on ARVs October 2005 and takes them in combination with nutritious food and vitamins as advised by the nurses at Ikhwezi.

Mandi
Age: 21
Place of Residence: Chislhurst, East London
Occupation: Student at the University of Fort Hare

Background Information:
Mandi continued with a steady relationship, even when his girlfriend moved to Johannesburg in 2004. In the ensuing months, word got to him that his girlfriend had been unfaithful to him and was “sleeping around” in Johannesburg. Mandi refused to believe the rumors and decided to ignore the comments. On December 21st, 2005 while his girlfriend was visiting him in East London, she stated in a drunken state “you must have AIDS because I know how you love girls.” Mandi recalls being extremely upset about this comment—as if she was perhaps blaming him for her positive status. Up until this point, Mandi had only used condoms with other girlfriends and because he believed his relationship with this girl to be more serious, he decided not to use them. He initially tried to ignore her comment but when it continued to “haunt him” he decided to go for an AIDS test at the Cambridge clinic on February 28, 2006. The test results came back positive. The Cambridge clinic then referred Mandi to Ikhwezi to receive a CD4 count and he has been a patron of Ikhwezi ever since.

How HIV has affected his life:
Mandi believes that his life hasn’t significantly changed since being diagnosed with HIV. He believes himself to be a “strong person’ and his family has been extremely supportive all the way through. In fact, when he went for his initial testing he was accompanied by his mom and uncle and aunt; they later came to Ikhwezi together for the CD4 count. They have continued to support Mandi and ensure that he continues to pursue his dreams. Mandi has not been in contact with his girlfriend since January 2006 because he has misplaced her phone number but hopes to contact her in December (when she will likely visit East London) in order to disclose his positive status.

Ikhwezi’s Impact on Mandi’s Life:
Mandi has been “very impressed” by Ikhwezi for the past seven months and is extremely appreciative of the good treatment, helpful staff and support group at Ikhwezi. Mandi is particularly fond of the support group which meets every Tuesday at Ikhwezi as he has befriended a lot of patients who “are always cracking jokes and make you forget about your status when you’re with them.” Mandi visits Ikhwezi each Tuesday for the support group meetings and once a month for his treatment.

Mandi’s Continuing Story
Today, Mandi insists on wearing a condom when he is sexually active with his four girlfriends. However, Mandi has not disclosed his positive status with any of his girlfriends. In fact, he has only disclosed his status with one friend, who until this day, refuses to believe him because he believes Mandi to be joking and too much of a “decent person” to be infected with AIDS.

Ntombizandile
Age: 24
Place of Residence: Ncerha Village
Occupation: Not working or schooling at the present time; depends on her parents’ social grants

Background Information:
Ntombizandile decided to come to Ikhwezi for voluntary testing today because she has not been feeling well since December of 2005. Ntombizandile was patronizing a local isangoma (traditional healer) for the past few months but the medication prescribed to her failed to work. It is with the encouragement of an Ikhwezi patient that Ntombizandile has come to get tested today. Ntombizandile believes she was infected with the virus through sexual intercourse with her boyfriend; they were not using any form of protection and her boyfriend has never been tested. Ntombizandile rarely sees her boyfriend anymore because he has moved to a distant town.

Ntombizandile’s Reaction to Being Diagnosed with HIV
Ntombizandile admits that she has no knowledge of HIV other than that she is positive and the virus is in her blood and has made her very weak and lethargic. Ntombizandile notes that she is happy and no longer feels scared now that she knows her status; she has hope that she will regain her strength back when she recalls that her friend was also diagnosed with AIDS and was very weak like her and then “got very fat again.” Ntombizandile has finished grade 10 and hopes to go back to school to finish high school when she regains her strength.