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My Name is Themba Msiza Print E-mail
Tuesday, 05 June 2007 16:05
By Themba Msiza as told to Randy Finkbeiner

My name is Themba Msiza. I come from Vezubuhle, South Africa. This HIV is here, I’m telling you, it’s here. I started getting sick in 2004. I didn’t know what was going on with me. By November of 2005 I was bed-ridden. My family took me to the traditional healer and they told me that I was bewitched. At that stage I really believed I was bewitched because I felt there was something moving around in my stomach. It felt like a snake was living inside of me.

My grandfather phoned me on Christmas Day. He asked me why I wasn’t coming to celebrate Christmas with him and said I was speaking very softly that day. He said to me, “What is the matter, grandson?” I said, “I’m sick, grandfather.” He said, “Should I come and fetch you?” And I said, “Please come quickly.” He arrived and picked me up and took me to Vezubuhle. When I arrived in Vezubuhle, he took me again to the traditional healer, the prophets of the Zionist church, and other healers. They made me drink the Zionist tea and I vomited it. I ended up saying that I wasn’t going to go to the traditional healers anymore. My grandfather said to me, “Hey, you need to go to these people to get better.” I said, “How can I keep going to them when every time they give me something to drink or eat I throw it up?”

Then my grandfather decided to take me to a government clinic at KwaMhlanga. I was very weak at that time but had a will to live; I was fighting to stay alive. The sisters at the clinic were very amazed that I could even walk because I had lost so much weight. They said I looked like a walking skeleton. They asked me to get tested for HIV. I asked myself many questions like, “What will people think if I have this thing?” I was taken to the testing room by a very big lady. This lady said to me, “Even though I’m this big, I’m also HIV positive.” I looked at her in amazement because she looked very healthy and beautiful. Then they took my blood and the test came back positive. I accepted my status and at that stage I was very sick and my CD4 count was only 2. I looked like a walking skeleton.

The sisters at KwaMhlanga clinic took me to Nakekela Care Center. When I first came to Nakekela they turned me away because there was no bed. I was very confused at this stage. That evening when I came from Nakekela I started praying to my Lord. After praying I received a call from Nakekela saying they would come in the morning and get me because now there was a space for me. The following day I was admitted to Nakekela. I was sweating a lot and when I would wake up in my bed I found my clothes and the bed was very wet. I was on and off with the sisters. I was saying a lot of crazy things because HIV can also affect the mind. I looked at my own bones and wondered if this was really me. I couldn’t believe what was happening to my body. I was afraid to look at myself. People kept telling me I looked like a living skeleton. I would look at my arm and couldn’t believe it was my own arm.

When I started taking the ARV treatment for HIV I would pray before taking the tablets. I asked God to make these tablets to work in my body. After many months I began to get my strength back and was able to return home. I prayed every time before taking my tablets that God would use this medicine to help me. I now grow my own spinach in my garden. I am speaking at schools and encouraging young people to protect themselves.

I want to encourage you to go and get tested. Because I know my status now, I am a living example that if you get tested you can survive. Look at me and take courage. This disease is here amongst us. Let us go forward with the Word of God so we can get victory over this disease. Without God we are nothing. God is great; let’s pray unto him everyday. I’m asking those who have not yet been tested, do you know yourself what is your status? We know there is no cure for HIV, but if we put our trust in God, we can become a hopeful nation. Let us unite against this disease. Let us together ask God to help us fight this disease in our midst. Thank you for letting me share my story.

Themba Msiza is a former patient at the Nakekela Hospice run by Rev. Arthur and Dr. Sonja Miskin in South Africa. Randy Finkbeiner is an American volunteer at the clinic.
 
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