When I look back over my life, it has been filled with many roadblocks, bad choices, deaths, and adversities--yet, somehow, someway, I have always found the strength to carry on.
I would go to my clinic hiding my face and the day before visiting the clinic I didn't sleep. I kept on thinking how will I do tomorrow?? Who will I meet there?
This is not just a story about illness— it's about intuition. The terrifying silence of being dismissed. And the sacred roar of deciding to save yourself.
HIV cure work is something that is beginning to fascinate me. Having the opportunity to be in spaces where this is the topic of discussion, I have learned so much about the virus.
Sharing my stories and giving courage to others like me who can relate to some of my struggles and victories is a way I can give back to a community that has literally saved my life.
"You have HIV. HIV3 to be exact." That's what they said—HIV3. I didn't even know what that meant... No one explained it. No one softened it.
Being stigmatized with the closest friends and relatives... the people you really loved and trusted. It was really hard on me... But now I stand up straight to tell the world that I'm strong... Stigma can't kill my future.
Being part of A Girl Like Me isn't just about telling my story. It's about showing someone else what's possible when we finally decide to stop hiding... We are exactly what someone else needs to see.
I'm choosing to live out loud—for the girl I used to be and for the ones who still think they have to shrink to survive. You don't. You can bloom right where you are.
Nineteen years ago, I never imagined that I would one day have the strength to speak openly about my status in a leading HIV magazine. But here I am.