David NGELE'S HIV STORY
I was born on the 9th of February,
1950 in the Francistown district where I grew up as
a young farmer since I was born in a farming family.
My interest at the time were to go out and meet with
people, especially women. I married my first wife in
the year 1982 and now have three children and two grandchildren.
During my working life I worked as a driver for various
companies in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. I
guess it is at that time that I got exposed to many
temptations including having women friends.
In the beginning of 1993 I got very sick. I had boils
which were coming on and off and terrible headaches.
I went to a health clinic complaining about body pains.
The midwife nurse there suggested that I get an HIV/AIDS
test done. I agreed. On the 17th of April, 1993 I took
the test and the results were released on the 28th of
April, 1993. That is when I learned about my sero-positive
status. I was put on medication and began to get better.
When I was first informed of the status, three things
came to mind. One was to commit suicide. The second,
I thought, was that life was a gift from God and that
I should not take it out by myself. The third was, I
thought, let me go back to Batswana and educate them.
It was then suggested that I go for traditional cleansing.
The nurse at the clinic referred me to the AIDS/STD
Unit of the Ministry of Health for counseling and support.
The AIDS/STD Unit in turn referred me to the Red Cross
Society where I received on-going counseling by Monkie
Morake and Cookie Seretse. These are people who played
a critical role in my life. I should hasten to mention
that counseling helps tremendously in allowing one to
make informed decisions.
I went to the United States in September 1993 for a
conference which exposed me to many other people living
with HIV/AIDS from across the globe. That is the time
when I became more daring and courageous to defy any
odds in my way. Discrimination and isolation was very
rife at the time. For anyone to talk of HIV/AIDS was
a myth and I remember at the time a study was being
undertaken in the Kasane district on the views and opinions
of the general public about the people with HIV/AIDS.
The study revealed that the majority of people said
all people living with HIV/AIDS should be castrated,
ostracised and quarantined. It became even more scary.
The AIDS/STD Unit of Ministry of Health and Red Cross
continued to give me all the necessary support and counseling,
preparing me to go out in public as I had indicated
that I needed to tell the world about my sero-positive
status. on the 24th of November, 1993 I declared my
status in public through the radio and television. Many
people who saw me walking in the streets could not believe
it. They had the impression that since I was HIV positive
I was supposed to be frail, weak with running or brittle
hair and in fact should be dying from the disease. Some
were even saying I was bluffing about my story and was
bought by the government to pass on HIV/AIDS messages.
I continued to eat healthy foods and did exercises daily
and also attending workshops and conferences. I should
say that I am still kicking, fit and strong like anybody
else!
- David Ngele
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