In honor of World AIDS Day (December 1st), we will talk about living with HIV. HIV/AIDS has always been one of those diseases that has drastically impacted our community and has been around for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Africa, this disease was synonymous to a death sentence and though there have been great strides and advances towards it, there’s still be a tremendous amount of stigma and stereotypical ideation towards it.
With so many scientific developments, the prognosis of HIV/AIDS compared to 20+ years ago has drastically improved and there are lots of HIV+ patients who live their lives as normal as any other person who doesn’t have it. So, our purpose in this episode isn’t only to educate our African community about this disease but to defy the stereotypes surrounding it.
Get to meet our guest:
Honorine Mbibe is a 23-year-old student, model, and adolescent champion. Moreover, she is currently in a modeling competition where her project is to stand for adolescents and young people living with HIV, as well as fight against the stigma surrounding AIDS and discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients.
With her business partner Sania Ahmad, she also co-authored a book around the same topic and more. One day, she hopes that future generations will be able to speak up about their feelings without the stigma holding them back.
When the HIV positive diagnosis was disclosed to me, it wasn’t easy, but I had to use it as a stepping stone in my life. I told myself that I would never let others have the wrong information about this disease. So in my domain, I try to educate others on the basics of HIV.
– Honorine Mbibe
CONTACT Honorine Mbibe: honorinembibeh@gmail.com
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