Well, I made it to USCHA in Washington DC... I love coming to these conferences because they are so personally beneficial for me as an advocate.
Check out The Well Project's A Girl Like Me LIVE!, an interactive, livestreaming series created to advance health and wellness education among women living with and vulnerable to HIV.
They told me that my medication would kill me, not the virus. And I know for a fact they were wrong... When I came to the United States in 2001, I started treatment. Four weeks later, I was undetectable.
HIV criminalization is an amalgamation of a lot of things. It is ignorance overlaid with fear and underpinned by the need to exert power over the same people who are being feared.
In 2025, HIV/AIDS is still a big taboo in Africa. In my country, I had discussions with my relatives to know their opinion on the subject...
HIV had kept me locked in fear for over a decade, constantly worrying about stigma and judgement. But I reminded myself of everything I had learned through yoga, meditation, and mindfulness: Stay present.
I didn't know it would feel this good and to be honest, I am loving it! I know what I want, I am comfortable in my skin, I know that I am of the light, but I dance with darkness sometimes - and we all have that Yin and Yang.
What is "Undetectable Equals Untransmittable" (U=U) — and what does it mean for women living with HIV? Learn more about this groundbreaking discovery, and the worldwide campaign to spread the word about it.
Not only do I want these things, I deserve them. So does everyone else living with HIV. Shift the paradigm. Let's talk about pleasure.
All my love for you Job Corps; I've been meaning to write this blog for years!