NAMIB TIMES
3 DECEMBER 2013
13
World Aids Day commemorated Anri Jacobs This year the theme of world aids day is “Getting to Zero” or Zero new infections. On this day people all over the world unite in the fight against HIV and AIDS, they show their support for people living with HIV and remember people who have died because of it. This year marks the 26th celebration of this event worldwide. To celebrate world Aids day and show their respect, Mrs Emsie Orus, organiser of the event along with guest speaker Jo-ann Van Wyk and Mr Jacobs from the Ministry of Education took a moment to light a candle. The lighting of the candles signifies to everyone out there living with HIV that there is hope. Mrs Orus added, “Even those who are infected should know they can live a normal healthy life, be productive, work and enjoy a positive life.” After lighting the candles a moment of silence was also taken to think of all of those who had been lost to Aids and to pray for those who live with the virus. They also prayed for our coun-
GUESS SPEAKER: JoAnn van Wyk
try as we know the statistics on Aids in Namibia is skyrocketing. Mrs Jo-ann Van Wyk was there to share words of encouragement with the guests. Mrs Van Wyk describes herself as an Aids activist, and has been living with the virus for 10 years. She was diagnosed with HIV at the age of 17 while still at school, and naturally her life changed forever. Nonetheless she has gone against all norms and stigmas, and today she is the Mayor of Witvlei. She shared about her life with Aids with the audience. “It all started out as being an innocent young child at school, and then I fell pregnant. I was 5 months pregnant at the time, when I received a phone call from the docter saying I needed to come in immediately. I got there and there was a crowd waiting to tell me that I have Aids and was going to die.” Mrs Van Wyk explained that back then, the stigma was so high and people were not all that informed about Aids. She added, “Being a child and hearing that you are positive, you feel beyond sad, and like it is the end of the world.” All Mrs Van Wyk knew was that she was going to die a painful death, and even she star-
SHARING: Ms Jo-Ann van Wyk encouraging the audience ted to prepare herself for death. Stigma around Aids was so bad that even her family started treating her differently. She had her own special water bottle to drink out of and her siblings was always told to wash the bath before they bathed because they might get infected. “The worst part is that I believed all of these things, added Mrs Van Wyk. Her mother started planning her funeral, yet months passed and nothing happened. As it appeared that she became “better” her friends and family planned her life for her and decided that she had to get married. “My life was taken away from me,” added Mrs Van Wyk. Still people were waiting for her to die but she didn't. It was then that she decided to go to her Grandmother in Witvlei to start a life there. It was when her Grandmother embraced her and said, “Everything is going to be okay, we will get through this together,” that Mrs
Van Wyk truly felt hope for the future. Jo-ann added, “She truly dedicated her life to me, and I feel so sad that she also suffered because of me, but I will be forever grateful for what she did for me.” Through HIV she lost so much, “I lost my school, my family, most of all I lost my reproductive rights as I had to go through forced sterilisation. People planned every single part of my life and I lost my whole identity.” It was only later that Jo-Ann started informing herself bout HIV, she learnt what it meant and got support. She made a point of accepting that she is positive, and to understand the virus in her. When she started loving herself, her life changed, “I decided from that moment on to live my life to the fullest! Some days I even forget that I have HIV. I love myself more now than ever before.” She went through treatment for prevention of
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mother to child transmission, and is now blessed with a 10 year old son as well as 2 adopted children. Mrs Van Wyk explained, “It's all about how you view life and looking after yourself and living with a healthy body mind and soul.” From there on Jo-Ann's life took off, and she grabbed all the opportunities she could get. She finished school, got her grade 12, she studied project management as well as local governance, and wrote a book entitled, “Diary from the land of the brave”, on her life with HIV. Today she is the Mayor of the town where she endured so much pain. Jo-ann enthused everyone let “Zero new infections” the theme of this year's World Aids Day, not become the responsibility of others, to show commitment and to make a difference yourself. She added, “It is easy to think that HIV does not affect
you so why make a difference, but the truth is every 4th person is living with HIV, and I believe those figures are even higher. So many people never check their status and rather live with the virus without ever knowing about it, because of the fear caused by stigma.” She continued, “Make it your responsibility to know your status! Open your eyes and live by example. HIV affects everyone from all walks of life. Let's make Wold Aids Day not only the 1st of December but the whole year. Make it a point to love yourself and be healthy.” When asked what piece of advice Mrs Van Wyk would give to the youth of our country she said, “Being a young person is very challenging. You go through a journey of challenging situations, and learn as you go. In my life I made so many mistakes, but at the end of the day it's about what you make out
of your life.” She continued, “In schools today children have such a nice environment at school, so talk to your teachers about AIDS. So many of you still have a clean life and it is up to you to press the right button, make informed choices and live a healthy life. There are no excuses, you have an informed environment and support systems all over, so use what is around you. Parents should also change their way of living to set an example for children to follow, and so should society change their perception.” Jo-Ann added that her motivation in life is simply to make sure she is in a happy mood and abstain from all negativity in life and said “I live with everyday challenges like everyone else, but I believe there is no time to be sad. I just want to be happy and live my life to the fullest.”