NGOs | The Graying of AIDS

Ron, age 50 / District of Columbia, USA

December 2, 2017 by admin

I was a closeted gay man working in international development. I had been a Peace Corps volunteer and was going to school for public health, but taking short contracts to pay for school. I was living and working in Mali, in West Africa. This was the year 1994. I needed to have […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Male, North America • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, clinical trials, co-morbidities, death/dying, employment/retirement, faith/spirituality, family, finances, gratitude, grief/loss, Healthcare access, intergenerational, Kaposi sarcoma, long-range thinking, long-term survivors, Mali, meditation, NGOs, opportunistic infections, positive outlook, pre/post-test counseling, privilege, stigma, support, treatment access, United States, working in HIV/AIDS community

Proscovia, age 55 / Tororo, Uganda

December 1, 2017 by admin

For a long time, I have been working with the media. I have been writing my stories, and that’s how I’ve been getting support. That has allowed me to be what I am today. I trained as teacher, and so at a teacher’s college I was taking charge of adolescent youth, and that was […]

Categories: Africa, Age 55-59, Female • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, caregiving, children/parenthood, class, Corruption, dating, disclosure, domestic violence, employment discrimination, employment/retirement, faith/spirituality, family, finances, grandchildren, helping others, Housing, inheritance/wills, intergenerational, isolation, married/life partner(s), NGOs, nutrition, opportunistic infections, pre/post-test counseling, side effects, stigma, stress, support, treatment access, treatment adherence, Uganda, Viral load/”undetectable”, World AIDS Day

Betti, age 51 / Abidjan, Ivory Coast

July 14, 2016 by admin

I discovered my status after I gave birth, in 1997. I was sick and I went to see a doctor at the hospital. I asked for a checkup and they told me that I had HIV. The child was breastfed, and I didn’t know, so she got contaminated. It was already difficult for me to […]

Categories: Africa, Age 50-54, Female • Tags: children/parenthood, cost of treatment, denial, family, fatigue, grief/loss, Ivory Coast, libido, married/life partner(s), menopause, mother-to-child transmission, NGOs, positive outlook, sex/sexuality, stress, support, treatment access

Luwiza, age 51 / Lusaka, Zambia

December 1, 2014 by admin

Despite the health personnel saying that, “You isolate her,” my sister was there for me. My mother was there. Would sleep in the same room. My sister would be next to me on the same bed, you know. And that helped a lot. Because when your close relatives neglect you: Oooh! That is the worst […]

Categories: Africa, Age 50-54, Female • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, children/parenthood, cost of treatment, employment/retirement, exercise/fitness, faith/spirituality, family, grandchildren, helping others, HIV/AIDS myths, keeping busy, NGOs, stigma, support, treatment access, Zambia

Doris, age 58 & Randy, age 48 / Canada

November 30, 2014 by admin

Doris: I was caught up in my addictions, and I thought the weight loss was connected to my substance use, until I started seeing other complications with my health. And that’s when I went for an HIV test. While waiting for my HIV test, I made the decision to go back home, because […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Female, North America, Trans / Non-Binary / Two-Spirit • Tags: Aboriginal/Indigenous/First Nations, ACTIVISM, anger, Art/creativity, Canada, children/parenthood, death/dying, domestic violence, faith/spirituality, family, grandchildren, HIV/AIDS education, love, moving home, NGOs, sexual violence, stigma, substance use/recovery, support, trauma, weight

The Graying of AIDS

Stories From An Aging Pandemic

image Archives

Ron, age 50 / District of Columbia, USA

Proscovia, age 55 / Tororo, Uganda

Betti, age 51 / Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Luwiza, age 51 / Lusaka, Zambia

Doris, age 58 & Randy, age 48 / Canada