Don't avoid HIV patients

Hello steem people ,today we are going to see a story of an HIV patient.This post is created completely for awareness purpose only.

Sonto Moloi is a housekeeper working in Cape Town South Africa . She is in a long-term relationship with her boyfriend and together they have a three-year old daughter. We met up with her and what helps her live life to the full.

How old were you when you discovered you were HIV-positive?
I was 24 years old.

How did you know you had been infected with HIV?
I met a boy, my first real boyfriend, and we fell in love. One thing led to another and we conceived our daughter, which meant I needed to go for blood tests. When the tests came back as positive for HIV, I was devastated. Here I was in love for the first time, and carrying a child to whom I could transfer the infection as well, and I was truly terrified and alone. I couldn’t tell anyone I was pregnant, let alone that I was HIV-positive, so I kept it to myself (and my boyfriend).

What happened when the baby was born?
Because I was HIV-positive my daughter was born by Caesarean section to minimise the chances of spreading the infection to her. She was also very small, a result of the ARVs I had started taking from the moment I found out my status.

What prompted you to tell people about your status?
I had carried the burden of what felt like a dirty secret for nearly 18 months on my own, not even telling my sisters, when one day my employer noticed I was gaining weight – from the pregnancy and also a result of the ARVs. She asked me whether we were going to welcome another addition into the family and I promptly burst into tears. After I said I was pregnant, I sort of blurted out that I was HIV-positive. I couldn’t hold it in anymore and just needed someone to know and help. There are so many stigmas attached to this illness and I didn’t want to be looked at in funny ways and whispered about. I wasn’t ready to face it, but I needed some kind of support.

What was your employer’s reaction?
I know it sounds funny, but my employer was almost relieved. She had been concerned that I was going to leave the family and move back to the Free State to bring up my daughter. She then just simply put her arms around me and hugged me and let me cry myself out. Then she called her husband and both of them hugged me and I cried some more. I cannot tell you how relieved I was – I slept well that night.