The cry of a 13-year-old boy living with HIV

I am not going to tell you my name or show you my face but I will tell you about my battle with HIV stigma in school. I am 13 years old. I was born with HIV. I have been taking my medicine every day because the doctor said I could live a long and a happy life if I took my medication on a daily basis.

Sometimes I don’t think the doctor is right about living a happy life. After disclosing my HIV status to my teachers, parents and my schoolmates, things have never been the same. I usually cry a lot almost every day when I am in school. I don’t cry because of being sick but because people are usually mean to me.

It makes me angry and sad when I see my schoolmates treating me as an outcast. I have no friends in school. People are usually scared of me all the time. No one wants to share a meal with me, sit next to me or even shake my hands. I am so good at sports but when it comes to selection of teams by school captains I am usually left behind because of my status even though I can play better than most of my team mates.

I have stopped trying to make friendship with everyone in school. I spend all my break time in class pretending to finish my school work. I really feel so lonely here in school and I wish I could just drop out of school and be with my mother at home.

My mother is the only person who understands me. She usually tells me children are usually cruel to me because they don’t know HIV better. She usually tells me one can’t get HIV by sharing meals, hugging, shaking hands, playing together or by being friendly. I wish everyone in school had this information.

I am living with HIV and HIV is not me. I am more than HIV. I am a human being just like them and I wish they could treat me like any other human being. I pray that one day all this hate, stigma and discrimination will end.

HIV stigma and discrimination still exist in our schools. More awareness on HIV needs to be done in schools to end HIV stigma and discrimination.