 |
SlideshowMy Life with HIV: Siama MusineNovember 2, 2011Siama Musine lives and works in the Nairobi slum of Kibera. She is living with HIV and has been on antiretrovirals (ARVs) for six years. In 2005, MSF gave her and five other Kenyan HIV patients disposable cameras so they could document their lives. The resulting photo project, “My Life with HIV,” can be seen on doctorswithoutborders.org. This past June, MSF checked back with Musine and the others to see how they’ve proven it possible to live an active life, with HIV, once treatment has been initiated. Photos by Sven Torfinn 
Kenya 2011 © Sven Torfinn “People really want to know exactly how I’m living, what I’m doing. I’m a community role model. It has made me to be more proactive and to be more assertive on how I am expressing myself. It has really changed me.” 
Kenya 2011 © Sven Torfinn Siama Musine holds a photo taken before she began ARV treatment. “Sometimes if I talk to people about my status, and they look at me, they are just like, ‘Siama, you are lying to us. You look very healthy. You just look very beautiful." 
Kenya 2011 © Sven Torfinn She plans to soon move to a place she has built outside Nairobi, where she will keep goats. “When I was ill … my mother, she really didn’t want me to be part of the family. But nowadays we work together.” 
Kenya 2011 © Sven Torfinn Currently, she works as a health promotion assistant in a medical facility, providing support to people who text positive for HIV. "I remember when I was tested, the counselor who was there just told me to prepare myself for death. At that time, there was no education." 
Kenya 2011 © Sven Torfinn When she can, Musine goes swimming to build strength and be with other people.
Tags: Kenya, HIV/AIDS, Testimony |
||
|
|
||