battling stigma

I am what they call a long term survivor. I have been living with HIV for 25+ years. I have more good days than bad days thank God. I can remember a time when all I had were bad days. I had a very low...

HIV – Stigma and Discrimination / Love, Life, Laughter – HIV is a nothing if taken in a positive way, it is just another disease – the only fine line that separates it is IGNORANCE Being HIV Positive...

I had the immense pleasure of attending and participating in PWN's First Annual Women's Conference in Fort Walton Beach, Florida in October compliments of The Well Project and A Girl Like Me. While...

Recently I saw on the news a wonderful story of a family here in CO that had adopted several HIV+ children from Uganda and other countries. They had educated themselves about the illness and adopted...

As the leaves started to change and my favorite season of the year began, I realized that it has been just a little over a year since I became executive director of The Well Project, which made me...

Got results today, not for bloods but from my annual cervical smear; all good, as usual. I dutifully go every year to follow recommended procedure because of my status. Staring at the familiar flowers on the ceiling at my local GUM clinic I have a kind of epiphany, "HIV is for life, not just for clinic visits".

In my previous blogs I spoke a lot about what life was like being diagnosed with HIV. I spoke of the shame and guilt I felt along with the shame people placed upon me because of this disease. I hated my fate, I hated the man and I hated me. I stopped living, dreaming and hoping. It wasn't until I began to deal with the issues that impacted the life that led me to HIV that I began to live again.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the PWN SPEAK UP! National Summit for Women Living with HIV with more than 200 other women. The days were filled with workshops, activities, empowerment sessions, and hope. Although much has changed in the past 30 years, and there are now women specific policies and guidelines, there is still more work to be done. Advocating for women's rights is a continued process.

I took a seminar on the language we use when discussing HIV. It really made me stop and think about the words I use when describing myself and HIV. From the time I was diagnosed I have always hated to...

Jesus knows that I've gone through, made, and been forced to go through some changes. I don't mind change because life is full of them. It is overwhelming sometimes. The instability of life dictates most change.