Faghmeda Miller is the first and only Muslim woman in South Africa to have disclosed her HIV status. She speaks to us about how she live with it. It all started when I became infected with the AIDS virus in 1994 while happily married to my Malawian husband and living in Malawi. It was discovered […]

My name is Funeka Menze. I am 30 years old and have lived in Mandleni, Nyandeni municipality with my family for my entire life. I am the second daughter in a family of eight girls. My father was a mine worker until 1982. When he lost his job, my family faced great financial difficulties and […]

Accomplished marathon runner and mountaineer Evelina Tshabalala isn’t a “give-up” kind of woman. She’s a fighter and a winner. “Even though I’m HIV-positive, I’m stronger than normal people,” she points out. “I do things that most normal people can’t do.” Like summiting the world’s highest mountains including Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus in Russia and Mount […]

There I was. On top of the world, well almost, 1999, on the top of a ladder picking bananas when I got that call telling me on the phone that I had tested HIV positive. I wasn’t surprised about the result, but didn’t expect to be told on the phone. I had unwisely delayed testing, […]