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Intimate Secrets: Confessions of HIV virus 1
@Danis7568 #ConfessionsOfHIVirus #SpiritualSecretsOfSuccessHIVirus
#IntimateSecrets
CHAPTER 7: TRIUMPH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT – WHERE I MET MY MATCH
“My name is HIV. The preceding facts and figures stand as towering testimony of my genius and grand vision. But it has not always been plain sailing as the following events show.
“A great warrior concedes when he tastes defeat at the hands of a worthy opponent – it’s the battle code of all military legends. As any combat veteran and decorated war hero will testify, I respect the death-defying efforts of a valiant enemy. This is a time-honoured tradition in warfare that dates back to ancient times. So in that spirit I want to share with you some of my not-so-glamorous moments; which, by the way, are real-life testimonies that you can defeat me if you put your mind to it (whether you be HIV-positive or negative).
"Some individuals and community groups have made their motto: Stop HIV & AIDS now, or die trying. Here are their stories of courage, determination and triumph in the face of a powerful, invisible and deadly enemy.
“In a certain African country I struck several communities with lightning speed and incredible force. A master of close-combat; I exploded into action massacring almost 90% of inhabitants in certain villages. When I hit this hard there is little chance of survival, and only a chosen few can block my path or stop me.
"Ghost towns and mass graves provided ample evidence that I had passed that way, with the national HIV-infection rate averaging beyond 50%. I was there to stay, or so I thought!
“Once I had nicely settled in, I entered into an evil partnership with certain strategic pathogens which had given humans a hard time many, many years before my arrival. This networking between the new and the old diseases soon proved to be a deadly alliance forged in the devil’s own compound – without equal, without challenge. It was a double-strike that elevated the status of legends of old such as malaria, TB, Hepatitis, pneumonia, and meningitis to more than their former glory. It reminded me of your yester-year sports stars making a dramatic come-back.
"Multi-drug resistance mainly triggered by sharing of prescription drugs, non-adherence, and other abuses was something of a surprise to us, but nonetheless a welcome advantage that we went on to exploit ruthlessly.
“Almost overnight, we had turned that country’s bright and sunny economic and health climate into thunderstorms of disease, devastation, and despair. It was hard work, but the results were more than satisfying for me. Then someone decided to spoil the party.
"The tenacious human spirit reared its ugly (well, it’s handsome really) head, and stood up tall and defiant to resist my advance. Some individuals, tired of the anguish, pain and misery that I had imported into the country, said, ‘Enough is enough’, took the proverbial bull by the horns and launched a campaign to stop me dead in my little tracks.
“At first people ignored calls to stand up and fight, and even victimized those who wanted to take a stand against me or come out in the open about being positive. But deteriorating circumstances forced the rest of the country to follow the lead of these HIV & AIDS activists (many of whom were HIV-positive) from a cross-section of the society. The Church and traditional leaders played a critical role in promoting behaviour change and the abandonment of traditional practices that promoted HIV transmission.
"Their rallying point was simple: ABC – which is short-speak for a three-pronged strategy against HIV/AIDS: Abstain from sex until marriage, Be faithful to one partner, and use Condoms correctly and consistently.
The strategy paid off handsomely, and within a decade or so, the average HIV-infection rate in that country was down to a consistent 3% minus. It was my loss, and their gain. What had been described as the world’s AIDS capital is now a zone of safety, having turned an epidemic into a chronic condition. In this country, my journey is almost over.
“Let me back-track a bit. In my early days, when I was still youthful and adventurous, full of vigor and unbridled passion, I hitched a ride on an airline to a vast and heavily populated First World country – the world’s leading economy actually.
My intention (as usual) was to cause enormous damage and bring this social powerhouse and economic engine to a grinding halt, and destroy the rest of the world’s economies in the process.
"But as soon as I landed and my first casualties started displaying the characteristic symptoms of my evil presence, the country’s media, community leaders and some ordinary citizens sounded the alarm. The country’s medical, political, religious, and scientific community swung into action in a unified bid to solve this ‘who done it’ murder mystery.
Mass media messages were disseminated warning everyone to keep a watchful eye. My movements were closely monitored and my profile, activities, and strategy were made public consumption. There were a lot of information gaps, but the basic facts were clear: A little known tiny mass murderer was on the loose and he had to be stopped, at whatever cost.
"Although a contract had been putout for my death or capture, and the classification was ‘armed and dangerous’, people were told not to panic or to attack those that I had invaded. Focus was placed squarely on me, not my victims, who actually received empathy, acceptance and support from the community, neighbours, friends, and family. The majority of the populace put their best effort to help. I don’t thrive in such environs, because my nutrition is a combination of stigma and discrimination, denial, silence and misinformation. I had met my match.
Up to today my progress in this country is painfully slow and laborious. Can you believe that in a country of over 250 million souls, I only manage to invade less than 50,000 bodies annually, the majority of whom take a long, long time before they develop AIDS, if at all?
“Having achieved limited success in the Land of the Free, I was desperate for a big victory to sooth my bruised ego. So I turned my devious attention to a small, resource challenged country in the Southern Hemisphere, bend on hitting it harder than any disaster, natural or otherwise, in its history.
I literally tore the nation apart! The force of my viral bomb blast resonated throughout the nation, reaching every nook and crane. I was on top of my game again, and spreading with a vengeance. I had a vast choice of towns, cities, and villages to attack, and with an ailing economy, a collapsing health-care system, poverty, ignorance, denial, corruption, and risky traditional practices and sexual behaviours, the possibilities were endless.
"So I swept across the country with amazing speed from boarder to interior, city to town, and from urban to rural. The country’s good road, rail and air network proved to be a decided asset. It meant that I could relocate from an unfaithful wife to her equally wayward husband before breakfast. He would catch a flight to attend a business meeting in another town, and by lunchtime I would be swimming lazily through his girl-friend’s vaginal fluid, hundreds of kilometers away.
“Everywhere I went, killer diseases (old enemies of the human race) tagged along, finishing off my victims. The medical fraternity was struggling to arrest these ancient plagues. At my height, I was sponsoring 5,000 plus funerals a week – which was equivalent to two fully-loaded jumbo-jet airplanes crashing and killing everyone on board on a daily basis.
Soon enough people realized that something was amiss. What was causing all these horrible deaths? They looked to the authorities for answers, but the powers-that-be were equally baffled. Confusion turned to panic, then anger and hopelessness as AIDS became a frightening reality. Visiting epidemiologists diagnosed the nation as being HIV+, with certain sections dying from full-blown AIDS.
"Denial, stigma and discrimination – the terrible triplets – quickly set in. People refused to go for testing saying that I didn’t exist, which worked in my favour because before an infected individual realized that they were sick, they would have spread me in all directions.
Finally the Government and health authorities openly admitted that HIV was real and right in their midst, and causing AIDS which was murdering the population en masse. Hundreds of AIDS NGOs and community-based organizations (CBOs) sprouted, people called on GOD in sustained prayer, a national AIDS fund was established, education campaigns started, seminars were held, ARVs were dispensed, condoms were distributed by the ton, PMTCT was instituted, HIV-tests became common place, behaviour change ABCs were promoted, and intervention strategies deployed country-wide (in both rural and urban settings) to stop transmission of HIV and mitigate the impact of AIDS.
"About a decade later, the tide turned and my AIDS tsunami started reversing, cutting the national HIV-infection rates by half, in the midst of an economic melt-down, poverty and plummeting health standards.
Opportunities to find new hosts started to dwindle as man and GOD partnered to eliminate me. Many lives have been lost in millions of personal battles, but the war has been won.
"My grip and foothold on a nation slips when people find hope, rally together, change behaviour, and take drastic measures to avert disaster. Miracles still happen, praise GOD!"
©Danisile Prinsloo Chivaura
#IntimateSecrets
CHAPTER 7: TRIUMPH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT – WHERE I MET MY MATCH
“My name is HIV. The preceding facts and figures stand as towering testimony of my genius and grand vision. But it has not always been plain sailing as the following events show.
“A great warrior concedes when he tastes defeat at the hands of a worthy opponent – it’s the battle code of all military legends. As any combat veteran and decorated war hero will testify, I respect the death-defying efforts of a valiant enemy. This is a time-honoured tradition in warfare that dates back to ancient times. So in that spirit I want to share with you some of my not-so-glamorous moments; which, by the way, are real-life testimonies that you can defeat me if you put your mind to it (whether you be HIV-positive or negative).
"Some individuals and community groups have made their motto: Stop HIV & AIDS now, or die trying. Here are their stories of courage, determination and triumph in the face of a powerful, invisible and deadly enemy.
“In a certain African country I struck several communities with lightning speed and incredible force. A master of close-combat; I exploded into action massacring almost 90% of inhabitants in certain villages. When I hit this hard there is little chance of survival, and only a chosen few can block my path or stop me.
"Ghost towns and mass graves provided ample evidence that I had passed that way, with the national HIV-infection rate averaging beyond 50%. I was there to stay, or so I thought!
“Once I had nicely settled in, I entered into an evil partnership with certain strategic pathogens which had given humans a hard time many, many years before my arrival. This networking between the new and the old diseases soon proved to be a deadly alliance forged in the devil’s own compound – without equal, without challenge. It was a double-strike that elevated the status of legends of old such as malaria, TB, Hepatitis, pneumonia, and meningitis to more than their former glory. It reminded me of your yester-year sports stars making a dramatic come-back.
"Multi-drug resistance mainly triggered by sharing of prescription drugs, non-adherence, and other abuses was something of a surprise to us, but nonetheless a welcome advantage that we went on to exploit ruthlessly.
“Almost overnight, we had turned that country’s bright and sunny economic and health climate into thunderstorms of disease, devastation, and despair. It was hard work, but the results were more than satisfying for me. Then someone decided to spoil the party.
"The tenacious human spirit reared its ugly (well, it’s handsome really) head, and stood up tall and defiant to resist my advance. Some individuals, tired of the anguish, pain and misery that I had imported into the country, said, ‘Enough is enough’, took the proverbial bull by the horns and launched a campaign to stop me dead in my little tracks.
“At first people ignored calls to stand up and fight, and even victimized those who wanted to take a stand against me or come out in the open about being positive. But deteriorating circumstances forced the rest of the country to follow the lead of these HIV & AIDS activists (many of whom were HIV-positive) from a cross-section of the society. The Church and traditional leaders played a critical role in promoting behaviour change and the abandonment of traditional practices that promoted HIV transmission.
"Their rallying point was simple: ABC – which is short-speak for a three-pronged strategy against HIV/AIDS: Abstain from sex until marriage, Be faithful to one partner, and use Condoms correctly and consistently.
The strategy paid off handsomely, and within a decade or so, the average HIV-infection rate in that country was down to a consistent 3% minus. It was my loss, and their gain. What had been described as the world’s AIDS capital is now a zone of safety, having turned an epidemic into a chronic condition. In this country, my journey is almost over.
“Let me back-track a bit. In my early days, when I was still youthful and adventurous, full of vigor and unbridled passion, I hitched a ride on an airline to a vast and heavily populated First World country – the world’s leading economy actually.
My intention (as usual) was to cause enormous damage and bring this social powerhouse and economic engine to a grinding halt, and destroy the rest of the world’s economies in the process.
"But as soon as I landed and my first casualties started displaying the characteristic symptoms of my evil presence, the country’s media, community leaders and some ordinary citizens sounded the alarm. The country’s medical, political, religious, and scientific community swung into action in a unified bid to solve this ‘who done it’ murder mystery.
Mass media messages were disseminated warning everyone to keep a watchful eye. My movements were closely monitored and my profile, activities, and strategy were made public consumption. There were a lot of information gaps, but the basic facts were clear: A little known tiny mass murderer was on the loose and he had to be stopped, at whatever cost.
"Although a contract had been putout for my death or capture, and the classification was ‘armed and dangerous’, people were told not to panic or to attack those that I had invaded. Focus was placed squarely on me, not my victims, who actually received empathy, acceptance and support from the community, neighbours, friends, and family. The majority of the populace put their best effort to help. I don’t thrive in such environs, because my nutrition is a combination of stigma and discrimination, denial, silence and misinformation. I had met my match.
Up to today my progress in this country is painfully slow and laborious. Can you believe that in a country of over 250 million souls, I only manage to invade less than 50,000 bodies annually, the majority of whom take a long, long time before they develop AIDS, if at all?
“Having achieved limited success in the Land of the Free, I was desperate for a big victory to sooth my bruised ego. So I turned my devious attention to a small, resource challenged country in the Southern Hemisphere, bend on hitting it harder than any disaster, natural or otherwise, in its history.
I literally tore the nation apart! The force of my viral bomb blast resonated throughout the nation, reaching every nook and crane. I was on top of my game again, and spreading with a vengeance. I had a vast choice of towns, cities, and villages to attack, and with an ailing economy, a collapsing health-care system, poverty, ignorance, denial, corruption, and risky traditional practices and sexual behaviours, the possibilities were endless.
"So I swept across the country with amazing speed from boarder to interior, city to town, and from urban to rural. The country’s good road, rail and air network proved to be a decided asset. It meant that I could relocate from an unfaithful wife to her equally wayward husband before breakfast. He would catch a flight to attend a business meeting in another town, and by lunchtime I would be swimming lazily through his girl-friend’s vaginal fluid, hundreds of kilometers away.
“Everywhere I went, killer diseases (old enemies of the human race) tagged along, finishing off my victims. The medical fraternity was struggling to arrest these ancient plagues. At my height, I was sponsoring 5,000 plus funerals a week – which was equivalent to two fully-loaded jumbo-jet airplanes crashing and killing everyone on board on a daily basis.
Soon enough people realized that something was amiss. What was causing all these horrible deaths? They looked to the authorities for answers, but the powers-that-be were equally baffled. Confusion turned to panic, then anger and hopelessness as AIDS became a frightening reality. Visiting epidemiologists diagnosed the nation as being HIV+, with certain sections dying from full-blown AIDS.
"Denial, stigma and discrimination – the terrible triplets – quickly set in. People refused to go for testing saying that I didn’t exist, which worked in my favour because before an infected individual realized that they were sick, they would have spread me in all directions.
Finally the Government and health authorities openly admitted that HIV was real and right in their midst, and causing AIDS which was murdering the population en masse. Hundreds of AIDS NGOs and community-based organizations (CBOs) sprouted, people called on GOD in sustained prayer, a national AIDS fund was established, education campaigns started, seminars were held, ARVs were dispensed, condoms were distributed by the ton, PMTCT was instituted, HIV-tests became common place, behaviour change ABCs were promoted, and intervention strategies deployed country-wide (in both rural and urban settings) to stop transmission of HIV and mitigate the impact of AIDS.
"About a decade later, the tide turned and my AIDS tsunami started reversing, cutting the national HIV-infection rates by half, in the midst of an economic melt-down, poverty and plummeting health standards.
Opportunities to find new hosts started to dwindle as man and GOD partnered to eliminate me. Many lives have been lost in millions of personal battles, but the war has been won.
"My grip and foothold on a nation slips when people find hope, rally together, change behaviour, and take drastic measures to avert disaster. Miracles still happen, praise GOD!"
©Danisile Prinsloo Chivaura
