Keep healing... it looks good on you! Paballo Jo'burg, South Africa

LEBEN

Keep healing... it looks good on you!

Gee, having unprotected sex with the wrong guy

led me to contract HIV and being stuck with the consequence of taking a pill my whole life for almost 5 years now.

From the beginning, I had bad vibes about the guy. I knew he was messing around. I had 3 nightmares which were vivid about him – there was a young girl always crying in my dream telling me not to sleep with the guy.

Guess what?

I figured: argh it is just a dream.

Then, I finally left him. After about 4 or 5 months of leaving him, I did my annual medical exam, which included an HIV test and found out I was HIV positive.

Today I have to go to the doctor twice a year for my bi-annual tests to ensure all my organs are in order and to get a script for my ART.

Look, I am living a normal healthy lifestyle,

since HIV is manageable and to my surprise, I needed to get HIV to really start valuing myself and taking better care of myself.

Prior to contracting HIV I had a very low self esteem and after contracting the virus, instead of crying over it, I chose to use it to better the lives of others 😊 and am humbled to say God has used me as a vessel to give hope. What the enemy meant for bad (due to my own negligence, as well) is now used for the good of others.

That's me.

I am healthy and no one can even tell I have HIV.
When I contracted the virus I remember saying this prayer:
“God, if You help me through this I will save lives, please save me!”
That was when I found out about HIV and I was so so terrified of living with it.

Little did I know that everything would stay the same, except that I have to take my pill daily. I striked a deal with God right then and there: I promised to make the world a better place by sharing my story and adding value to the lives of others. I became an HIV advocate, because I could have avoided this and through my story others can be educated and not make the same mistake. I feel that God uses me to save lives.

I share my story not only for awareness purposes but also to let anyone know that we can overcome anything. We are stronger than we always think and feel we are.

I not only went through the pain of being diagnosed with HIV

but went through a year of bullying at a job where I worked. Would you believe I walked away from the job and that in spite of HIV – I would go to bed hungry because I was jobless? But I had the power to go through with it.!

I was so terrified of people

I felt there was nowhere for me to turn to seek help. I was a total mess. But again, God’s grace

saved me.

I always say to my doctor. “like a cat, I have 9 lives’.

This is my biggest and best smile 💞💞💞 I call it #GodsGrace + when I felt I could smile and look forward to life again

Let us be
and spread love

There are several morals to my story, first of all:

#Remain celibate

#Condomise

#Follow your gut

On a deeper level...
Please can we be kinder?

We don’t know what people are going through. I am living with HIV, mentally still recovering from the bullying that took place 3 years ago, but I am stronger than I have ever been in the past year and a half.

Let’s open up so that the world can become a better place 💞🌟💦

Stay Safe ❤️ Stay strong ❣️

stories make
us human!

LEBEN