My name is Masozi Sipho I am a 24 year old single factory worker living with HIV. I am currently living in a ghetto in the outskirts of Johannesburg When I was growing up the government started repealing the laws of apartheid. Apartheid was an era when the ruling white party made racist laws against the native black population . My family and I could not swim at certain beaches or go to certain areas due to these laws. My grandfather died during the Sharpeville Massacre while he was protesting the apartheid. I was diagnosed with HIV about 6 months ago, before then I knew little about it only that there was a problem in my country. I have heard of many people with HIV but it had not effected me personally. I had to quit my job as it was to demanding on me and I am still unemployed. I have since become an advocate for more HIV/AIDS help from the government. The Aids Epidemic has been growing and is the largest problem we have in South Africa and may lead to both social and economic catastrophes.

“AIDS is a Sexually transmitted disease and is a deficiency of the white blood cells that fight disease ”. Unfortunately I found this out the hard way. When traveling to the nearest doctor’s clinic with symptoms like the flu they did a test and they told me I had HIV and that I could not do much as the money for the treatment was very expensive. I asked them if there was anything I could have done to prevent this as I really had no idea how it happened. It was then when I learned what a STD was. I had not gone to school so I was not aware of what STD’s or AIDS was. The doctors told me about ways of prevention, not to share needles to use condoms or abstain from sex. They sadly told me that at least once a day someone comes in with flu like symptoms which turns out to be.

I was very disturbed but interested in this disease so I went to a local clinic dedicated to HIV/AIDS in order to learn more about it. At this clinic a friendly man named Petiri told me he also had HIV but was diagnosed with it over two years ago. But then he told me he was a lawyer and could afford the high cost of medical care. He sadly said that the government had been very slow to respond to the epidemic even though he and his group had been trying to tell them for years that the problem was growing and not getting any better. He then told me in a sad tone that “almost 25% of the country has HIV/AIDS” . This shocked me geatly I thought of all of my friends and family and a knew that I had to do something.

I asked Petiri what the government was and wasn’t doing. He told me that they were putting up a new campaign putting up advertisements warning against HIV/AIDS. But he said “if the government supplied these relatively cheap drugs to the people the HIV/AIDS mortality rate would go down about 7% ”. After I heard this I promptly signed up for his group South Africans with AIDS or SAWA.

When reading up in the newspaeper about the HIV/AIDS epidemic I learned that Pope Benedict XVI denied allowing married couples where one of the partners has HIV/AIDS to be allowed to use condoms. This disturbed me because even though I am not a practicing catholic both of my parents were and had one of them gotten AIDS they might have spread it to one another, leaving me without parents. There have been many appeals to the pope however he has remained firm saying abstinence is the only way to stay safe.

As I continued reading the newspaper I made my way to the classified section where I looked for a new job. I noticed that a company called Anglo American Mining was offering positions with free HIV/AIDS treatment . So I called them up trying to apply. They told me I was qualified and I had the job. On my first day of work I asked my boss Otieno about the HIV/AIDS program, he said that they had a large wellness program with about 2500 people for support and monitoring and with the program they also supply drugs. This meant I might actually have a semi extended life. My new job has helped me keep myself occupied as well as get the treatment I need and not have to rely on the government.

Even though I have gotten the support and help I need for my HIV/AIDS I still am going to crusade for more HIV/AIDS support from the government. Even though Anglo American supplies its employees with proper treatment many companies do not. Most HIV/AIDS victims without treatment cannot work which causes an increase in the unemployment rate and through that an increase in poverty which in most cases increases crime. This one major epidemic can lead to massive problems if not dealt with right.