David is a young man living in northern Kenya.

When he was younger, he stopped taking his medication for a while, and an opportunistic infection took hold. Once he realized the importance of understanding his HIV status and caring for his health, he became committed to helping other young people to do the same.

“As a peer educator, I give them advice and counsel them on the importance of adhering to their medication. For those that default on their medication, I follow-up with them personally at their homes,” explains David.

“Most times, those clients who miss appointments are still not comfortable opening up about their status, so I usually find a way of making them my friends so they can be free enough to open up about their challenges.”

Malehlohonolo is a 22-year old woman living with HIV in Maseru, Lesotho.

“Thanks to my peer support group, today I am a strong young woman and able to educate my peers and advocate for them,” she shares.

“I learned to accept myself and my status. With the encouragement of the group, I take my HIV treatment daily without ever missing a dose.”

Paballo, another young Masotho woman, was happy to find other young people living with HIV had formed a support club.

“I met very strong young people who are living with HIV who have accepted themselves, and they are confident to share their status with other youths,” says Paballo.

“At the club we learn about acceptance, treatment adherence, and status disclosure to our loved-ones. ”

Salma is a teen advocate living with HIV in Tanzania.

She says that although she is now physically healthy, thanks to her adherence to antiretroviral medication (ARVs), ongoing stigma takes a toll on her and other young women living with HIV.

“The battle is still far from over. I continue to be stigmatized—even by close relatives and family members.”

Through teen advocacy training , Salma says, “I am learning to create more space to achieve zero discrimination among people living with HIV.”

When Tanzanian youth activist Jane learned she was living with HIV, she found hope in a peer support group.

Jane met other young people living with HIV who were full of positive energy . “I slowly began to accept who I am and refused to be defined by my HIV status,” Jane explains.

“Words from my mum told me to be strong and helped me turn the misfortune into a fortune—to stand for myself and educate others, so that instead of discriminating against me while they don’t know their status, they too can seek to know their status,” Jane says.

Hajarah is an HIV activist and community health worker in southwest Uganda.

Hajarah sees health holistically. “I found there was a problem of depression during the lockdown,” she explains. “I used this opportunity to do initiatives on mental health through phone calls, SMS, and social media.”

“I counsel approximately 15 people, and they are now doing better.”

Fellow Ugandan community health worker Junior has also adapted during COVID.

“There may not have been any other time since the start of this millennium when people living with HIV were more fearful and stigmatized than in 2020, when the lockdown was in place and economic paralysis ensued,” explains Junior.

“Sharing experiences, especially in an isolation period like this one, helps reduce stigma. Some days, I would go to the hospitals in town just in case there are other young people who need to speak to someone like me for counseling and psychosocial support.”

Ester is a university student, and also a community health worker in Uganda.

During the pandemic, she noticed that some of her peers were no longer fulfilling their appointments or getting their medications.

“We made phone calls to them to remind them,” Ester explains. “Some young people needed counseling, like a young girl who tested positive and wanted to commit suicide.

“I travelled when the transport restrictions were lifted and visited her, counseled her, and she is now steadily defeating stigma.”

Rosa is an EGPAF Ambassador and Peer Counselor in Zimbabwe.

When she recently met another young person living with HIV who was experiencing mental health issues related to the pandemic, she explains, “it was my role to offer this young person as much support as I can.” In her experience living with HIV, Rosa has overcome depression and her own mental health struggles.

“If we can declare victory in the mind, then physically, we will also succeed,” she explains.

Tafadzwa and Patience are a young Zimbabwean couple, who met and fell in love through their support group.

“Being HIV-positive doesn’t mean that you cannot find love,” says Tafadzwa.

Patience agrees. “He stands with me always—and I have seen it when I am sick,” she says of her partner. “He always encourages me to do what is best for me.

“The group helped me understand that I am not alone.”