Nairobi Woman Recounts Struggle With Remaining Alive After Positive HIV Diagnosis

• Susan Wairimu Metta disclosed to a friend that she had tested positive for HIV, a mistake she lives to regret
• That was the start of her journey through stigma, but she has learnt how to live positively and laugh at naysayers
• She now uses her experience to help others going through difficulty accepting their status

In 2018, Susan Wairimu Metta was working in Juba and experiencing work-related stress that caused her to lose weight.

Apart from her recurrent bouts of illness, the company she was working for eventually closed, and she returned home jobless.

Wairimu tested HIV positive

She told TUKO.co.ke that the development stressed her so much that by January 2019, she was a shell of herself and had full-blown signs of HIV.

Given that she had reduced in weight from 108kg to 60s, lost hair, had problems with eyesight and suffered persistent opportunistic infections, she decided to go for a test.

"By the time I took myself to the hospital, I knew chances were I had HIV or was dealing with cancer. I tested HIV positive," Wairimu recalled.

She disclosed that the news gave her a bittersweet feeling because she knew what was ailing her and had seen people living positively.

Wairimu struggled to accept results

Since her younger siblings accompanied her to the voluntary counselling and testing centre, she had to compose herself for them and remain strong.

"I didn't sleep the first night. I broke down after reality hit me, with questions of how people would take me. I wondered whether life would ever be the same," Wairimu says.

As much as her two siblings knew, she went missing from her parents' lives and kept the news secret for a year until she was strong enough to face them.

Luckily for her, they noticed she was a strong woman and embraced her, becoming her biggest supporters to date.

"As for friends, I lost some and gained others, but two of my long-term friends became my best supporters until I got back on my feet," she asserted.

Friend broadcast her HIV status

Wairimu's biggest mistake was telling one of her friends, who disclosed to a salonist that her hair was falling off because she was positive.

"Within hours she had painted Kitengela with my stories. I started getting calls from people, with others coming over to visit thinking it was a lie," she recounted painfully.

That was the start of stigmatization as she became the subject of gossip wherever she went, a development that affected her mental state.

Wairimu recalled an incident in which one of the ladies at an event she had attended prevented their friend from talking to her because of her status.

"I realized owning my story would free me from the stigma of being gossiped about and fearing to go places, that changed everything," she continued.

Wairimu has learnt how to live positively

Over five years later, Wairimu has pulled herself back together, is living positively, and has learnt how to ignore the naysayers.

She admits that there exist moments where she still experiences stigma, but not as heavily as it was in the beginning.

She says her secret is laughing it off, as she realized that some people are still rigid about the virus and that the best idea is to ignore them.

"HIV is a manageable condition as long as you forgive. I'm a firm believer that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger; it's about making lemonade out of lemons," she added.

There's life beyond HIV

Having experienced this firsthand, she started a community-based organization called Graced Outreach CBO to counsel and walk together with people living with HIV.

"My main goal is to work towards getting funding for economic empowerment for PLWHIV that are financially struggling so that they don't default on their meds due to hunger," she noted.

Wairimu maintains that there is life after testing positive, and people need to stop the rigid old mindset that HIV kills.

She maintained that nothing changes apart from the blood status, but one's life continues usually.

"As long as you living and eating right without missing your meds or re-infecting yourself, you live a healthy life that no one would even know," she concluded.

Nairobi woman aims to shatter stigmatization

Elsewhere, Violet Mukabana is a vibrant 25-year-old TikToker who fearlessly embraces life, unafraid to let the world know she's HIV positive.

With an unwavering spirit, she defied the odds when she discovered her status while pregnant with her first child.

The young entrepreneur aims to shatter HIV stigma by educating and enlightening people through her TikTok videos.

She firmly believes that silence only perpetuates the cycle of fear and shame, preventing those in need from seeking the help they deserve.

Proofreading by Nyambura Guthua, journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke