Health

MY HIV JOURNY

My name is Fatu, I am from West Africa, Liberia, and I currently live in Sweden. I am 48 years old with three children, two boys and one girl. When I first came to Europe in 2007, I landed in Denmark; after  2 ½ months of my arrival, I fell sick. I had soreness and rashes on my skin; it was so bad that I had to go to the hospital. After  I went to the hospital with my ex-husband, they did an HIV test on me and gave me a note stating that I was HIV positive. After hearing that, I melted down. I was crying, confused, and didn’t know where to start my life. All this time in Africa, I never knew that I was HIV positive. The symptoms I experienced were blisters on my skin, weight loss, and sweating all the time. Everything was going wrong in my body.

 I thought I was the only one living because it was shocking news to me. I didn’t know where to go; life was miserable. My ex-husband, who was supposed to stand by me and keep my secret, didn’t. He told his family and friends, saying. “She has HIV, she doesn’t want to take her medication, she will die.” It was so traumatizing. When we are sleeping, he puts some bed sheets between me and him because of the rash on my skin.

 I am sharing my story because I want my voice to inspire young and older women, men, and children who feel like they are alone with this virus. HIV today is not a big deal in Europe, America, and other parts of the world, but it’s a big deal in Africa. I was stigmatized by my family members and bullied by friends in this country. I never had anyone who could come close to me and my daughter. I was healthy because I’d been taking my medication for the past seven years before I moved to Sweden. When I later brought some friends closer to me, they stole my medication and turned it into something else. Those friends shared my medical problem in different WhatsApp groups. Back then, there was no Facebook Live; this was around 2014 or 2015.

 I was so traumatized! I felt so disappointed, but I continued to take my medication. I joined different HIV organizations like POSITIVE GROUP, NORTH SIDE, and CROSSOVER. I joined all of these groups just to build myself up and to meet other people like me. So, my advice to people with HIV is don’t feel like you are alone; go out there, join an HIV organization, be a part of a different group, meet people who live with HIV, and take your medication very seriously. The medication is the best thing that has ever happened to me. God comes first, but my medication comes second. I love these drugs! The first medication I was on had me in common for more than three months in Denmark, with no family and nobody close to me. I left my children in Africa, I had no friends, and I could not speak the Dane language. It was horrible.

When you have God by your side, anything that is before you, God can take it for you.  I do have God by my side! I also take my community very seriously;  my health is number one for me, and I want to be here with my children and all of you. Many of you know that we can all work together and feel positive in our HIV journey. Today, there are powerful medications out there, like the medication I’m taking, which is so good.

I want to encourage all HIV patients around the globe to take their medication! Get in contact with HIV groups and get to know people who will love you and support you. Go out to places that will give support, don’t sit in your room feeling lonely, and you feel like there is no hope after HIV. There’s life!  I can tell you, I’m enjoying what I am doing with my HIV voice.

 I raise money for Children and reach out to many. All I need now is support, I want to travel around the world, I want the opportunity to travel to America, Canada, Holland, and different places around the world to speak on my HIV story because I was stigmatized and had no one to talked to, even now, I do not even have friends and it makes it worse, no friends want to walk with me. However, I have found myself. I love me! I love my space, and I love being alone because I have lived this lonely life for many years. I have a 13-year-old daughter now, and she is not HIV positive. My other children are in Africa, and we call each other and do video chats. They embrace me, and others who love me, they embrace me. Do not be alone, if you don’t find friends because you are HIV positive, get connected with people like yourself. If you’d like, you can reach out to me as well, and we can share our stories.

I would like to thank Stories Of Passion for allowing me to share my story on their platform.