I'm María Natalia Sáenz Agudelo. Seropositive woman, a " veiacheicera", to use a pretty word that a close friend of mine invented. Woman! Wonderfully woman!

Today is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD), a very important day for us women living with the human condition of HIV.

Why do many of us still underestimate the value we bring, why do we struggle to embrace our unique feminine leadership strengths, and why do we remain silent and let our rights be violated?

The hardest war ever fought is against self. That's all in the book. If it wasn't for AIDS, where would I be?

Dear Advocate, 2021, so far, has been a year of focusing on me and choosing me above all else. Too often I have dimmed my light and emptied my cup for the needs of others.

resilient: (of a substance or object) able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching or being compressed.

As I shared in Rollercoaster, as a long term diabetes survivor, I have been dealing with many health challenges alongside HIV during the difficult year 2020.

Last year we were all rocked by a deadly new virus. Somewhat like the early days of HIV, we didn't really understand the modes of transmission—we just knew it was potentially deadly.

Given that we are in February, which is not only Black History month but also the month of LOVE, I felt compelled to share this message with y'all.

Seeing how free people felt about sharing their COVID results but knowing if it were HIV they wouldn't - well DON'T - do the same.