SA: From victim to HIV counsellor

Matthew Mathabe is a young man in his early 40’s living with HIV in Orange Farm, an informal settlement to the south of Johannesburg, South Africa. Matthew had his fair share of challenges in his life, as do most of the young men that grow up in the community of Orange Farm.

Due to poverty and unemployment of his parents, Mathabe began using a number of substances at a very young age. One day Mathabe went home after using substances and got into a heated argument with his mother. This led to his mom being admitted at Baragwanath hospital and after a few days his mom passed away.

After his mother’s passing, life has not been easy for Mathabe. Most of his family members and the community blamed Matthew for his mother’s passing. His brother and sister left him in the house and moved on with their lives. Mathabe yearned to be independent, but each day he had to face bitter faces of people in the community who do not want him anywhere near them or near their children as they believe that Mathabe is a bad influence on their children.

Mathabe had to deal with rejection and hatred each day of his life. During this time he found out that that he had contracted HIV, which became another struggle in his life. He tried to go to a local clinic to start his antiretroviral treatment (ART) but that was also not easy for him because most of the staff that works at the clinic know him and they know his background and that led to Mathabe stopping to take his treatment because of the judgement he was receiving also at the clinic.

In May 2024 Mathabe was sitting at home and he saw a group of young men who were wearing white T-shirts with the slogan, “Strong in Jozi”. Strong in Jozi is an awareness campaign led by Anova Health Institute (ANOVA), working in partnership with local organizations such as Let us grow since the beginning of 2024 (Jozi is a slang name for Johannesburg). Strong in Jozi is a programme that targets men in and across Johannesburg. It encourages and educates men about their health especially HIV, AIDS and prostate cancer. The men do clinic referrals and also door to door awareness programmes to educate and encourage men about matters of GBV. Matthew learnt about the programme when some of the men were reaching out to the men in his community.

These young men educated Mathabe on proper condom use, Antiretrovirals (ARV’s), Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) and other health information. This was good news to Mathabe as he was longing to go back on treatment but he did not know how to. He also needed a health facility (clinic) that could assist him with other health issues that he has such as Tuberculosis (TB). The group of young men told him that they were from Let us Grow organisation and gave him directions to the office. After a few days Mathabe visited Let us Grow offices where he was received by a loving team of young people. Some are living with HIV just like him. Mathabe explained his challenges to one of the field workers. He said that what he would like to achieve was getting back on treatment at another health facility. The field worker and co-ordinator arranged a referral form for Matthew to visit another clinic in another extension where people do not know him, Let us Grow co-ordinator also offered to take Mathabe to the Clinic to give him moral support and show him love.

Now Mathabe is back on treatment and he joined the group of field workers. Every day he encourages young men to test for HIV and also to take their treatment. He feels so loved by his team members and nobody is judging him there regardless of what they know about him. Through the Southern African Voice and Choice Fund Let us Grow is able to make change and reach out to people in the community, one person at a time.