A few questions to get the discussion going
Openly Positive helps build a supportive, stigma-free environment for people living with HIV and AIDS to disclose and live positively:
- What do you think are the challenges we face in achieving this aim?
- How can you help us reach this aim?
- Do you encourage people to talk openly about HIV, and to have regular voluntary counselling and HIV testing?
- What stops you from receiving support when you discover you are living with HIV?
- What stops you from giving support when you discover someone close to you is living with HIV?
- What stops you from being openly positive, in other words, disclosing living with HIV, and living healthily and positively with HIV?
- What are your positive experiences of receiving and giving support around living with HIV?
- What are your experiences of disclosing and living positively with HIV?
Talkspace
Talking things out
This is a space to share, discuss and debate issues to do with open, positive living with HIV.
An email response to trustee Elaine Maane's Sunday Times article of 19 January 2008 demonstrates how important the strength and support of organisations such as Openly Positive can be:
"I am 22 years of age and I'm a mother to a 7 weeks old baby girl. I discovered that I was HIV positive during my pregnancy. I urged my partner to go and get tested as well and the results came back positive. We were told to take the baby for an HIV test after 6 weeks, but we are so afraid of what the results might show. I don't have anyone I can talk to, as my boyfriend is in denial of the situation. We really appreciate projects such as Openly Positive because they really strengthen us and remind us there is life on the positive side of HIV."
We would love to hear your responses to the work we are doing, and your experiences of living with HIV or being affected by HIV. Please use the form below, or email opositive@iafrica.com and one of our trustees will reply to you.