7-year-old HIV positive boy forced to drop out of school in seme sub county

It is so unfortunate that a 7 year old boy was forced to drop out of school in seme sub county because of his HIV status.  According to the boy’s parents who are also HIV positive, their son was born with HIV and he has been on medication.

7 months before joining the school, the boy’s parents voluntarily decided to inform the school head teacher about their son’s HIV status during an enrolment interview and the head teacher was okay with it. Moreover, the head teacher assured them that their son was safe and he would personally make sure that their son would feel at home, protected, loved and normal like any other student in the school. He promised to create a friendly environment in school to enable their son study to and be able to achieve his dream of becoming an ambassador.

The first three months after enrollment things were okay. The boy was really having a good time in school. He made friends with almost all the students in school and he became the teachers’ favorite student. The boy was always jovial and happy.

Things started to change when the boy’s parents disclosed their HIV status publicly during a HIV awareness campaign in the area. Many parents became a worried lot and decided to put pressure on the principle to get rid of the boy in school. Parents started warning their children not to play with the boy because he was HIV positive and he could infect them.

The boy became a lonely man in school. All his friends were gone and he was like an alien in school. His jovial and happy moods gradually turned it sadness and sorrow. He was no longer the teachers’ favorite student. He was like a monster to them and they feared him a lot. 

Parents continued to put pressure on the principle to get rid of the boy in school until their pressure yielded fruits. The head teacher finally gave in to their demands when parents threatened to withdraw their children from his school. The boy was not allowed to attend the school. Although the head teacher was not against the boy attending the school, there was nothing he could do. It was one against hundreds of parents.

The boy together with his parents relocated to Nyalenda slums in Kisumu where they enrolled their child in a new school and swore never to disclose their HIV status and their son’s too. They did this to protect their only son.

It is such a pity that stigma still exist in this century. One would expect this generation to be more civilized, caring, loving and understanding but that is not the case. The moment we judge someone based of their HIV status, we miss out the good side of the person.  According to the Kenya Stigma Index survey, HIV stigma and discrimination in Kenya is at 45%.  If we are to get to zero stigmas by 2030, more HIV awareness needs to be done both in schools and out of school. I believe that knowledge is power.