I perceive myself as a strong person because many people confide in me when they have problems or face challenges. A number of parents and learners of our school have confided in me about their HIV status. I always try to make them see that this is not the end of the world and assist them in joining support groups in the area. Fortunately, the school has a parent who is a volunteer in doing basic home care. He visits to wash and feed people and to make sure that they take their medication.
These parents later report about how they have been helped. Learners are taken care of by the school, in the sense that, through donations, they have soft porridge or soup before they start their lessons.
At the end of the year, we go out as educators to get sponsors so that we issue them with a food parcel that will last until schools open in January.
Last year, these learners were taken to the movies. Going to the movies was a first-time experience for many of them. These are things we sometimes take for granted.
The background I have just provided is to prepare you for what I felt when one of my cousins got the news of being HIV-positive. She was coughing and had had a cold or flu for some time.
I was worried about the state of affairs and encouraged her to go and get tested. I told her it was right to know your status because if you are positive, you can get help and even start with medication if your CD4 count is below 200.
Around May this year, she became sick again and her condition worsened in June. I took her to the doctor as usual and asked her to get tested. To my surprise, she knew she was positive. But after receiving the news, I was the one who was saying it was not possible. I was in denial. How could she be positive? Why her? This person is a professional. It could not be true.
In a way, I was saying to myself that HIV/Aids should discriminate. People close to me could not be positive, but others could be. How unfair of me.
After all the confusion and debate inside me, I have accepted her status and have been able to assist her.
In fact, she is back at work and taking medication. But this experience made HIV/Aids even more of a reality for me. We should continue to get educated about this disease that affects so many people.
Angeline Nkosi, Principal, Bonamelo Primary School, Gauteng