English
FrançaisICASA Young Writers Series - Winners
Ana Paula Samuel Botomane, Mozambique
2nd Runner up - SEXUAL GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE (SGBV)
My Story
"My name is Ana Paula Samuel Botomane, I am 20 years old. I’m from Niassa, Mozambique. I was tested HIV positive when I was 15. All my family members are HIV negative.
In 2017, I got very sick and was taken to hospital in Cuamba district and stayed for 7 days. Two days later, the health providers counseled me to carry out the HIV test and my mother and I gave the permission and for my surprise, the result was positive. Then my mother also did it was negative.
My mother asked for how long I should take the treatment and the technician said that would be forever. At that time, my mother could not believe what was going. I was thinking a lot and the only thing that came in my mind was that was the end of my life.
I was discharged from hospital, and I returned home. Upon our arrival, my mother did not give me those pills, she called my 5 older brothers, told them everything that happened in the health facility without asking me first, and simply told them that I have “AIDS’.