Friday, 09 December 2011

There is life after HIV

Youngsters of Amangwe Village Crèche provided a fantastic entertainment lineup

His humour and charismatic personality leads one to believe that motivational speaker Shumi Shandu is just living the life. And he is indeed, despite having publicly announced he is HIV positive and has been living with the dreaded disease for over 11 years. Speaking at the Amangwe Village and Thembeni Care Centre World AIDS Day commemoration event on Friday, Shandu, who is from the eNseleni Community Clinic, shared his life experiences and the decisions he has had to make since his diagnosis.

‘I didn’t want to worry how I contracted the virus, I had been with many women, but when I found out my status I decided to leave all that behind and focus on moving forward. ‘In our culture many people do not want to accept that they are infected, but rather blame it on witchcraft, believing they have been bewitched by others. ‘When I got tested I took along many others who also tested positive. ‘So we decided to start a support group and encouraged the women who attended to speak not only to their children, but their partners too. ‘I encourage the men to take the lead and go for testing, it’s free. Our Government has offered us free counselling, testing and treatment,’ he said.

The event’s programme also included a host of presentations from other role players such as CANSA uThungulu, who explained about cancers associated with men, as well as the candle lighting ceremony in remembrance of those who have been infected and affected by the disease. During the lighting ceremony Sister Gugu Kunene encouraged staff, guests and volunteers to take the messages and information they received and spread it among their communities. ‘You don’t put a candle under the table, but instead you put it in the open so its light can outshine the darkness. We too must share the information we have received with others and stop the spread of this disease,’ she said.