Close to three decades of HIV in Uganda and yet some of those who are infected still face stigma from the community. This is the story of the 19-year-old Brian Kimeze a resident of Masindi district. He was born with HIV and at the age of 11 his parents died leaving him to face a new experience of his life. Determined to move on, he continued with his education and everything seemed to move on well until he developed a rash on his body. It was then that one of the teachers instructed him not to share chairs with his colleagues and had to pick his chair from home something that made him hate the school. “He told me no, please young boy you are not supposed to fit in this class. I personally, as a child I first cried. When I cried, I said no, what can I do right now? When I went to one of my friend he told me that you know what you do; first leave then you will be okay. Then by that time, Nyameizi Rita was also there, when I approached Nyameizi Rita, he also said bring your chair up. Then she had told me that bring your chair in class and sit so that you learn then I also brought my chair.”
He then moved to another school and for each school, he went to, the story was not any different. By the time he got to senior four, he was the subject of ridicule. unable to make it anymore, Kimeze dropped out of school. Rita Nyameizi the coordinator of the People Living With HIV AIDS in Masindi district who tested positive in 1998, said they were using Brian’s case to make more youths come to test and also stop stigmatizing the people living with the disease. “We would get stigmatized and they were saying the package is too big and we were getting too much. But then we said, nobody applied for HIV, today it’s me, tomorrow it may be any other person. So we need these services so that they reach other people. He ended in senior four and is one of the members of the Sub-county Forum of People Living with HIV AIDS representing the young people in central division. So we are now looking empowering these young people so that they can also empower the young generation.”
As the country makes strides in the fight against HIV, there are elements that need to be addressed; the stigma and discrimination whose impacts take toll on people living with the virus.
