motivation, faith, forgiveness

My name is Robin Barkins. I was diagnosed with HIV at the age of 15. When I heard the devastating news, I thought my life was over. I refused all HIV treatment. I began to use drugs and I slept around...

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...

Waiting, waiting for the test results, what can I say? Will it be high, low? How low can I go? I went in so confidently, no fear, I actually look forward to it, the reaffirmation that I'm doing well...

This year has been very busy for me. Lots of "ups" and a few very lows, especially learning of the murder of my stepson! His loss reminded me that I should never ever take one second for granted...

What does it mean to Love Yourself? I used to ask myself this question. I would look into the mirror and still could not figure out how to really love myself. When you're filled with so much anger and...

"I remember being young and so brave I knew what I needed I was spending all my nights and days laid back day dreaming Look at me—I'm a big girl now, said I'm gon' do something Told the world I would...

This is the physical transformation I had. First pic I was a little girl that felt loved and cared for by her mother…At the same time this little girl was getting molested by her uncle and grew up...

Hello! My name is Monique Howell-Moree. I am a mother of 3 boys and a wife. I currently reside in South Carolina. I am an author of my first book, "Living inside My Skin of Silence" and the founder of...

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.