Through sharing my story, I want to reduce the stigma in our lives and show others that there is truly life after HIV diagnosis. I also want to teach others how to advocate for themselves when it comes to protection, stigma, and healthcare.
I want to do the right thing to. I’m only a kid and I can’t vote yet. But I can do other things. I have a mind and a voice. I can use it to help other people, just like I was helped. I want to be treated with respect and to have rights, and I want other people to have them too. We all deserve them.
Before the fishbowl, I was thoroughly enjoying how informative the session was. But when someone starts speaking on behalf adolescents and saying we can?t be trusted to make decisions about our own bodies? Well, needless to say, I got mad. I was shaking I was so mad, and that made taking notes very very difficult.
Gcina and Rosina are youth activists and advocates who work with Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. They also spoke on the GlobalSHARE Safer Conception panel in the Global Village on Tuesday.
It’s almost National Youth HIV Awareness Day. Last year I wrote something about it that was positive. This year I’m having a hard time being positive. Maybe it’s because I’m a teenage girl and because of puberty I’m really sensitive about everything. But I don’t think that’s all. I think as I get older certain things about me having HIV get harder.