The Department of Student Counselling and Health, HIV/AIDS Centre at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) hosted the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday, 31 May 2022.

The event themed: “We remember, we take action, we live beyond HIV” was held to celebrate people living with HIV, to recognise those who campaigned for the rights of people living with HIV, as well as remembering those who have passed on due to HIV.

Facilitating the webinar was Ms Siphesihle Ngubo, Projects Officer at the HIV/AIDS Centre who introduced the guest speakers, who shared their experiences of living with HIV.

Ms Ayanda Mthethwa, Psychologist at the DUT Student Counselling Centre, delivered the welcome address and also stated the purpose of the event.

“Annually, in May we observe the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial. This is in remembrance of the lives lost through AIDS. We light candles in honour of those who passed on and we demonstrate unity with people living with HIV. This day helps in raising social consciousness about HIV/AIDS. It also brings to the spotlight the importance of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. We all know that AIDS still remains to be one of the leading causes of death and the highest rate being amongst young adults. Education and fighting discriminations are still key. Testing, prevention and treatments still remains key. Let us keep the light on HIV/AIDS, let us remember our loved one, our family, our friends and everyone who departed because of AIDS,” said Mthethwa.

She urged the participants to leave the webinar with a renewed spirit in their social responsibility of breaking down the stigma, the discrimination and give hope to new generations in their personal spaces, families, circles, communities as well as societies at large.

The first speaker was Ms Andiswa Cindi, a 19-year-old social media HIV activist from Mpumalanga province and a student at the University of Johannesburg. She has over 40 000 followers on TikTok and has made it her mission to break the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, to teach the youth about living positively with HIV and to promote the importance of taking ARVs. She is known on the TikTok App for being one of the youngest teenagers born with HIV, who has come out and shared her story.

Cindi said the struggle she faces with someone born with HIV, is the lack of knowledge her peers have concerning to HIV.

Unpacking some of her concerns, Cindi said: “Some of my peers are not aware that you can be born with HIV. They are not used to having to talk about HIV in the public eye. I believe we live in a society where HIV is suppressed and not talked about. The only thing we are taught about in high school is how to prevent it and how to keep yourself safe. We are not taught the important question. What happens when you are infected or if a loved one is infected.”

She revealed that she found out last year, 28 June 2021 that she was born with HIV after she confronted her parents about the medication she was taking. This left her parents with no choice but to tell her the truth. Cindi said the first thing in her mind was that God gave her this virus for a reason, to help other children. In addition, she stated she chose to look at a brighter side of her situation which helped her a lot in dealing with it.

“There is shortage of teenagers born with HIV that speak out about it. It is only when I started talking about HIV, a lot of people came out to say they were also born with it. For the first time in a long time, I did not feel alone. I truly felt like I had a group of people but the sad part is that at the end of our conversation they would all ask me to not tell anyone about their HIV status. This makes me sad because it is not a crime,” added Cindi.

Currently, she deals with HIV by talking about, which helps her to gain more knowledge. Cindi believes that it is not the virus that kills people but it is the stigma.

The second speaker was a DUT peer educator, Mr Asanda Doyisa. He highlighted some of the challenges that he has heard and encountered as a peer educator, attempting to educate the DUT community around HIV stigmatisation and discrimination. Doyisa shared an interview he held with one of the students living with HIV. He pointed out that some of the challenges students face at residences include being discriminated at by being isolated or called names meanwhile others end up being scared to take their medication in front of their roommates, in fear of victimisation.

Sharing his message of support, Mr Oziel Mdletshe, University Programme Coordinator for Higher Health said this programme aimed to empower and support students who are affected and infected with HIV.

The webinar ended with a question and answer session and Ngubo thanked the speakers and participants for their commitment in making the event a success.

Pictured: HIV activist, Andiswa Cindi.

Picture credit: YOUTUBE/centTWINZ TV

Simangele Zuma