He knew he was infected, but never told me

Nov 28, 2011

Me? HIV positive? I couldn’t believe it. I told the nurse it was impossible. I walked out of the clinic, got into a taxi, and made a phone call to my aunt.

Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI)
Sixty four percent of the HIV positive youth attending the clinic at Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) at Mulago referral hospital, admit to having contracted the virus in their relationships,” says Julian Nkurayija, Young Adult project coordinator  at Infectious Disease Institute. 
 
IDI is an international centre for clinical care and research on HIV, taking care of teenagers and adults with HIV free of charge.
 
The youth (16-24) attend a special clinic, where they are given a platform to discuss and share their challenges during peer support meetings, to build their esteem and deal with non-medical issues alongside economic empowerment.
 
On average, 80 youths attend the clinic every Wednesday. The clinic is now taking care of approximately 800 youth.  Alcohol abuse is partly blamed for these infections. VICKY WANDAWA talked to two of the youth.

Angel Ntege, 23
Me? HIV positive? I couldn’t believe it. I told the nurse it was impossible. I walked out of the clinic, got into a taxi, and made a phone call to my aunt. I didn’t care that people were listening; I said to her, “Can you imagine the doctor says I am HIV positive?” 

In my Senior Six vacation, I had a boyfriend who was about six years older than I was. I was living with my cousin and I had all the liberty to spend as much time with my boyfriend as I wanted. We always used protection, but this one night, we were both tired and forgot about it.

 
Soon I started feeling dizzy and when I did a pregnancy test from home, I discovered that I was pregnant. My boyfriend insisted that I abort. My conscience told me otherwise. I grudgingly accepted the money he gave me to go carry out the abortion, but didn’t go through with it.
 
A few months later, he found me bending over the sink and throwing up. He realised I had lied to him so he asked me to buy the home pregnancy test and he waited for the results with me. It turned out 
positive.
 
He got mad at me, but I insisted that I wouldn’t go through with an abortion. I finally left when he sort of became violent and disrespectful; coming home late and picking up calls from other girls in the dead of the night.
 
 And now that I think about it, I think he knew he was positive and that’s why he wanted me to get rid of the baby. 
I told him that if he wanted me out of his house, I would go, but there was no way I was getting an abortion! I went to live with my aunt. She asked me to attend antenatal care and that is when I was told that I was HIV positive. 
 
I didn’t believe it. Two weeks later, I went to Mulago referral hospital. That’s when it finally dawned on me that I was HIV positive. I was in a daze. I felt like I would die the following minute. 
 
I gave birth to my baby, she is two now, beautiful and healthy. 
I advise girls to listen to advice.  I know that at a certain age, especially during your teenage years, you will feel like you are on top of the world, and will not want to listen to anyone trying to show you the right way, but when you finally catch HIV, you will regret it.
This advice will run through your brain, but it will be too late.
As soon as you start dating, go for a test, even if  you pledge to always use protection because there could be just that one time when you will not use it and get yourself pregnant or infected.
 
I dated my boyfriend for three years, we were using protection, all the time, but it took just one time for us to forget and I got HIV. 
 
And if ever you discover that you are positive, try and accept your status, get off drugs and alcohol, because these only make your body weaker and less responsive to treatment.
 
 
I lost it in one night
 
Anatoli Twinomujuni, 21
It was the perfect wild night out; the music, alcohol, the girls  . . .  as I walked into that club, I knew the fun was just beginning.
 
I started sipping on my first beer bottle. I had no other memories of that night, until I awoke in the morning, next to her. This was January, this year. 
 
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Anatoli Twinomujuni, 21, second year, Information Systems, Makerere University contracted HIV after alcohol influenced him into making a bad judgment 
 
I was home from Makerere University. It was holiday time. I met this girl. We were classmates in high school. I had a crush on her back then, and she on me. However, after high school, we went separate ways. And seeing her again, I couldn’t believe my eyes. We found a spot and started catching up; it was just like the old days. Later we went to a night club.
 
When I awoke the next morning, I was shocked when I saw her lying next to me.  The first statement out of my mouth was, “Did we use a condom?” and a soft “no” was her response. She said we were both too drunk to consider it.
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