YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE HIV POSITIVE TO CARE
Tags: Stigma, Empathy, Discrimination, HIV, AIDS

SHE SAYS… — AN LEV8 ORIGINAL

~ by The Stiletto Ninja

Yes, you read the title correctly, dearest!

And now, read it one more time out loud in front of the mirror.

This is what you should be telling yourself everyday from now on because you don’t have to be HIV positive to care about people living with HIV (PLHIV).

I can’t tell if it’s the society or the upbringing at home, but I noticed that in Malaysia, whenever you care about HIV/AIDS cause, people simply assume that you’re a HIV positive. Come on, Malaysians, this is not the case of being an active member of the ‘Persatuan Kucing Gemuk dan Gebu Selangor’ that clearly means you own 26 fat furry friends.

When I was much younger (which was like 600 years ago), I always saw this PSA on TV with a huge tagline in murdery red “AIDS Membunuh” which sent a different kind of message to the people living in that era. So I was not surprised that PLHIV back then were marginalised due to the lack of information.

Then, I became a journalist and closer to December 1, I approached my editors and asked if I could write a special report on World AIDS Day. Naturally, I contacted the Malaysia AIDS Council and they arranged some interviews for me.

Honestly, it was not the outcome of my report that surprised people. It was my willingness to go to visit hospitals, speak to PLHIV and even meet some young children who were infected during birth that probably caused some whispers at work. The best was, “Of course she wants to write about herself!”

And the whispers continued for the next few years as I got more involved with PLHIV for my reports. Should those whispers break me? Not at all! In fact, I was entertaining the thought of perhaps one day contributing to the cause.

Why, you may ask?

Do you know the experience of sitting with a PLHIV who had to be hospitalised when he caught a common flu that people like you and I would dismiss easily? I was there at the hospital along with my cameraman, listening to his story. He was not a drug user who shared needles and he was not even sleeping around without protection. He was just an unfortunate victim of someone who contracted HIV from his partner whom he married. Just to share, this was before the time when HIV testing was made compulsory for couples who were getting married.

And I could not possibly blame his wife who appeared to have managed the symptoms better than he did. She was just another unfortunate victim as well because it turned out, she was ‘sold’ by her own family to a syndicate when she was very young and forced into prostitution.

The sinking feeling was worse when I visited an elderly woman known as Wan Hava who was caring for a group of children who contracted HIV from their parents. I remember seeing a boy aged 15, he was probably the oldest child around. I also remember seeing an infant, no older than 2 years old. Wan Have told me, the children went to school as usual and the teachers were well informed of their condition. When she shared her story, I was deeply touched and amazed to see her efforts caring for children who were not even hers and in grave need for support.

Her words that really touched me were, “We don’t know how long we will live in this beautiful world and we don’t know how long these children will live too. So, while we’re still alive, why can’t we be good to each other?”

My journey from those days of being a journalist and writing about HIV/AIDS to the very day I finally wrote this article down was not without challenges and honestly, they mostly stemmed from procrastination on my end.

And today, I’d like to put a stop to that and I wish to do more. I hope that we will find that strength to stop turning a blind eye and do more… while we’re still alive in this beautiful world.

~

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