My name is Larissa Tjat, a 24-year-old Cameroonian who has been HIV-positive since birth. I'm a community manager by training and a photographer by profession. I also do hair from time to time and sell clothes online. In the country where I live, it's important to be versatile in order to support yourself.
Living with HIV hasn't been easy for me. It's only as I've grown up that I've really come to terms with the way society looks at me. A society in which you are judged, rejected and singled out because of a disease you didn't want. You shut yourself away for fear of being exposed, with stress, depression and anxiety as your company.
The stigma is real, but over time I've learned to love myself, I've started to seek out communities of people living with HIV and I've been relieved to know that I'm no longer alone. To know that we are linked by the same story that no one can erase.
All the while, I remain hopeful that the world will take a different look at this disease.
Why Larissa wants to be part of A Girl Like Me: I want to read articles by women who are like me, and to express myself.
