Living Positively ?

During Camp Glow** last week, we had a speaker named Jackie, who is living positively with HIV/AIDs. “Living positively” (as related to HIV/AIDs) is commonly used to describe people who, although they are HIV positive, still maintain a healthy lifestyle, take their anti-retroviral medications, and basically move forward in a strong and empowered manner despite their status. Jackie says that “being HIV positive does not stop me from being a successful person.” In this, she is a courageous example for Namibian youth. Of course, prevention is the key, but Jackie provides a positive example of the positive lifestyle that one can lead despite being HIV positive.

Jackie talked about her hopes and dreams. She told us her story – she was born an orphan, is a survivor of rape, and has been HIV positive since she was 31. She talked about “Bridge FM Radio” – a dream she has to “bridge from low self-esteem to healing.” She encouraged the youth at Camp Glow to follow their dreams relentlessly. She said that “we all have dreams, but some of our dreams have died,” and encouraged us all to dust off our dreams and to pursue them relentlessly. She encouraged the campers to find their own voices, “if you have something to say, but you don’t have the courage to speak out, it dies inside you.” At one point, she asked them to repeat after her:

“The well-begin of this nation’s future depends on ME.”

This is so true – the youth at Camp Glow are the current and future leaders of Namibia – the future of Namibia depends very much on them! She encouraged everyone to respect themselves and to foster emotional healing and self-confidence. “Face your fear, and the fear disappears,” she said. It is “time for women to stand up and speak out for themselves.”

In a stunning conclusion, Jackie stated that she is a born-again Christian who is “cured through Christ.” She no longer believes she is HIV positive, and has stopped taking her ARVs. An interesting discussion ensued: science vs. faith, logic vs. a belief in miracles. What do YOU believe? (Note that the leadership of Camp Glow clearly stated later to the campers that AIDs IS an incurable disease and that we condone only safe, preventative behaviours.) Here, the cultural, religious and stark differences in worldview were apparent. It was interesting to note the differences in belief that surfaced between the Namibians and those of us from the U.S.

** Camp GLOW seeks to encourage youth leadership through self-esteem building, development of good decision-making skills, and promotion of goal setting and career planning. It is funded every year through grants and private donations. If you have any questions please contact Elisabeth Wise at wiseliz@gmail.com. ONLINE: http://glownamibia.blogspot.com/