Come out and conquer HIV and Aids
by By Mbulelo Dyasi
2010-02-16 12:25
WHEN Mbulelo Dyasi came face to face with HIV, he didn’t run: he
faced it head-on.
Now the former Eastern Cape Aids Council ambassador urges other
HIV-positive people, especially men, to come forward and stand up to the
virus.
Roadshows, campaigns, awareness-raising … they’re only going to
work once HIV-positive people, especially males, come out and reveal their
status, said Dyasi.
Once they do this, he said, the virus can be conquered. The spread
can stop. The support can strengthen. And treatment can begin.
Born and raised in Ilitha near the tiny town of Berlin in the
Eastern Cape, Mbulelo showed an interest in gender issues from as early as high
school. With dreams of a career in international peace politics, Mbulelo
naturally veered towards workshops and discussions on human rights and equality.
He found himself at workshops organised by non-profit international
women’s organisation Masimanyane on domestic violence, human rights, gender
equality and HIV/Aids at school, and continued training with Masimanyane after
matric.
In 2003, he contracted the HI virus, and returned to the
Masimanyane headquarters in East London for counselling and advice.
“Masimanyane supported me unconditionally,” he says. “The
organisation started to use me after I disclosed my status, because it was
involved in many exciting programmes regarding HIV.
“I am now the face of HIV in the province. I remarried, and my wife
Chumisa – who is also HIV-positive – and I work together in the fight against
Aids in the Eastern Cape.”
Surrounded by support, he says, he faced HIV head-on, never
suffering much, and never identifying himself by his status. “I am Mbulelo – I
am not Aids,” he says.
This is why, he explains, he was nominated for the International
Visitors Programme in the United States.
“In the US there are people who have been living with the virus for
20 years – people on treatment, antiretrovirals, and know how to live with HIV
longer. I wanted to know how to live longer.
“What surprised me is that people there, who are living with HIV
are leaders. They are university professors, they are people leading HIV
programmes – unlike here where so many HIV-positive people just attend meetings
and listen to talks. There, they are involved. They are making a difference,
taking the lead.”
While the US was more advanced in terms of HIV treatment and
counselling, Mbulelo found his home province to be ahead when it came to
mobilising people, and in multi-sectoral responses and approaches.
Today, Mbulelo leads by example by pledging publicly “not to infect
others”, hoping others will follow.