My birthday month, November, had a great start by doing what I like most, giving my HIV activism a boost. Between 4-7 November I was in Istanbul for a face-to-face 'Skills Training to Empower Patients' (STEP-UP) and networking weekend organized by the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) Training Academy. After more than a year of online training because of Covid 19, I got a chance to finally meet my fellow European and Asian HIV activists and advocates. Everyone was dying to meet and finally get to know each other more and share our experiences because in the end it is really about community...
HIVstigmafighter's blog
This month Akira, my youngest son of 13 years old, and I travelled to Antwerp for a filmshoot for the 'Undetectable equals Untransmittable' (U=U) campaign in Belgium. Whilst in the train towards Antwerp I asked how he felt to be part of this campaign, since this was not his first time participating in campaigns related to HIV and AIDS. He was also part of the 'coming out of the closet' (HIV uit de kast) campaign, the short movie 'people from the HIV association', the Amsterdam 2018 AIDS Conference welcoming campaign, and now U=U. Akira's answer was; "Mom, I am proud to help out. I believe what...
As a woman and mother living with HIV how do I see ageing? A lot of people are afraid of ageing, yet for me it is a very exciting journey and I am actually looking forward to getting older! So, let me share with you why I see ageing in a positive way. The whole of my adult life, only based on my appearance, people often assume I am still very young. This despite my double trouble of HIV and diabetes. In my life this has led to many embarrasing situations. When I took my first born for her first vaccination to the clinic 20 years ago, the nurse told me to call my mother. When I told her that I...
Whilst we are nearing the end of a rainy summer, I would like to reflect on my summer time. It was actually very enjoyable no matter how I look at it! It started excellent by hearing news from my diabetes doctor that I was allowed to stop 3 more pills of my medication. Then there was Mandela Day on the 18th of July where we shared our Stories of Hope through a photo exposition, and I had a great celebratory closing party with my heroes! A few days later I celebrated my kids’ birthdays which all of you know happen for all three of them within 4 days! My oldest daughter turned 20, one of my sons...
As an African artist living with HIV in the Netherlands for more than 15 years now, I continue to experience a lot of stigma and discrimination based on me being open about my HIV and my beautiful colour. I realized that for many people with a migrant background stigma is indeed still a major issue. So, in April this year I launched Stories of Hope which aims to inspire people to share their talent as a positive way to deal with and raise awareness about stigma. On 18 July, Mandela Day, together with the other 'Heroes of Hope' we shared our stories with the world! Sharing our stories on...
My lovely people, can you explain to me why white people coming to Africa are quickly called "experts", but people of African descent in Europe are often called "refugees, migrants, or illegals"? After I married my husband, in the different countries in Africa we lived in I became the "expert's wife", Mrs. Becks. Although I always felt this title to be wrong, at the same time at all these places I was also recognised for my talents as an artist and appreciated as a human being, part of society. The talented Mrs. Becks in South Africa The ugly divide that the color of a skin can cause became...
In May 2014 I finally told my secret; I published a note called "The Hidden Truth" on facebook to inform everyone about my HIV. I had been thinking about coming out of the closet for many years and that day I was ready to share my reality and prepared to face a storm of reactions. Before coming out I told a few friends, neighbours and parents of my kid's friends. Why did I do that? I was creating my small safe haven, in case the world would turn its back on me. So I was assured that these people would hold my hand and support me! Back then I was not sure what reaction I would be getting, but...
Hello my lovely people. It is always great to have something to keep you positively busy during these strange Covid times. So I am very excited to share a new initiative called stories of hope with you. I will be leading this for the coming 4 months. Just a little background: I was lucky to follow the STEP- UP training organised by the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG). Together with many other HIV activists and advocates I gained a lot of extra knowledge on HIV. EATG also gave us the opportunity to pitch a project we are passionate about and I decided to share my dream of reaching out to...
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?
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.