Casestudy: Juliana Meleki

Go right away to know your status. If you do not know your status, you are killing yourself. ARVs prolong your life.

Juliana is fifty four. She is living positively with four children and is Deputy Head of the Christ the King Basic School. She was promoted in 2004 to Deputy Head and is in charge of special education, teaching braille and other subjects. She personally transcribes braille for five blind children in the school because the school has no braille machine. Juliana discovered her status in 2005. Juliana was never sick, but had herpes zoster on her left side for which she was given medication in the clinic and it went away. Subsequently, her mother came to see her and told her she had lost weight and did not look well. She encouraged her to go for VCT following which Juliana was told she was HIV positive. She was obviously upset but she said God had put her in this situation, so she must accept it.

Juliana's CD4 count was too high for anti-retrovirals (ARVs), so instead she was just put on a nutrition programme. Juliana is under a lot of stress at home as she has been looking after her husband since 1998 when he became unemployed and, as a result, Juliana is the breadwinner. She had to buy the house for them. Juliana started taking ARVs in 2007 and takes one tablet per day and since starting on them, she has become physically fit and can do anything. Her sight was poor for two weeks when she began taking her ARVs, but now her sight is fine.

Her husband did not ask her how she was or about her results when she came back from VCT. Juliana told him the next day that she was HIV positive. She told him 'that this is how we have to live in this house - we either use a condom, or abstain'. He did not respond and refuses to use a condom insisting he is negative, but she is not sure about this. So from 2005, she has been abstaining. Her children are very supportive of her – they took it well and said 'It has come. There is nothing we can do'.

I remember, when I went to see the counsellor, I told him that my husband was being promiscuous, so I confronted my husband saying 'you know, what you are doing is not right. You will bring that disease into the house'. Then the woman he was with died, and I said 'I told you'.

Juliana thinks women are more vulnerable because they follow the tradition that you cannot say no to sex with your husband. Most women are not economically empowered so they end up engaging in sex for money.

Juliana was not stigmatised when she disclosed her status. She told everyone straight away including her Head Teacher. She joined a support group and told the other teachers. People asked her, how is she so courageous, but she said, 'I have to be, there is nothing I can do with the way I am. I am a happy person'.