To celebrate World AIDS Day UNMIL  HIV/AIDS Policy Adviser, Gameli Kofi  Seadzi  talks with Jojo Baysah, President of the Network of People Living with HIV in Liberia about Baysah’s new family and his courageous decision to share his personal experience of being diagnosed HIV positive with others as part of the fight against stigma and discrimination of people who become infected with the virus.

Gameli : Can you tell us a little about living openly with HIV?

 

Jojo : I am somebody openly living with HIV and AIDS since 2002 when I was diagnosed and I decided to come out publicly to talk about my HIV status,  to help give hope to other people; and then tell  Liberians  and the international community that HIV is here in Liberia.

 

Gameli:: That must have been a bit of a bold action on your part. How did you you take the decision to come out to talk to people about your status;  and also help others to come out openly and  get treated for HIV?

 

Jojo: Well it all came about when Jewel Howard Taylor was looking for people to break the silence in Liberia and they contacted me and then she talked to me and I went back home. I talked to my family; my brothers; my sisters;  my children; and they all accepted that it is important for me to go public with my HIV status and it was not an easy task to go public with my HIV status because stigma and discrimination was very very high at the time.

 

Gameli : You mentioned stigma and discrimination was it a very major problem for you after you declared openly.

 

Jojo: Yes it was a major problem for me, not just for me but also for my family members. Because even before I went to hospital to do a test my late wife and I got sick seriously and it was real real tough at the time. Stigma was very very high. I remember very well, many days I left my home and went into the bush because of self-stigma; I stigmatized myself, afraid of  being stigmatized and then the community also stigmatized me. So it was a tough time but I went through it and I accepted the reality.

 

Gameli : Since 2002 have you seen any improvement in the extent of stigmatization?

 

Jojo: I have seen a lot a lot of improvement when it comes to stigma reduction because I remember   when I went to New Kru Town I broke the silence there in 2002 people chased us out of new Kru Town and together with a lady, who was almost beaten by the crowd. They got her Lappa and threw her Lappa away and the only thing that blessed her was that she had on short trouser on otherwise she would have become naked. We had to run away. Many times people were pointing at us;  at our children and our family members calling us AIDS patients but we didn’t give up and gradually, we continued talking to the community, continued going on the radio, newspapers, and stigma started to reduce gradually. I remember the last World AIDS Day, I went to New Kru Town agin and I stood up in the public and I spoke openly. Nobody stoned me nobody came running at me and things were a little bit fine. At least stigma has reduced to some extent.

 

Gameli: We are glad to know that things have improved. You mentioned your late wife does that mean you have a new wife also now?

 

Jojo: Oh yes. I have a new wife

 

Gameli: Did you check her status?

 

Jojo: Before I married her we met in a support group meeting and we all shared our testimony, how we are living with HIV, what hope we can give each other and then I fell in love with her.  I proposed marriage to her. She agreed and I paid for her dowry.

 

Gameli: That means essentially you married someone who is also living positively with HIV. That is fine. I am told you had a baby recently?

 

Jojo: Yes I had twins and thank God to the Prevention from Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) service. She benefitted from that PMCTC and I also helped push her and I guided her through it because I went to so many workshops. I learned about PMTCT and I went through it and the children thank God today they are HIV free.

 

Gameli: How did you as a couple join the PMTCT project?

 

Jojo: Well when we got to know our status after we got married, we decided to have children. Even before the twins we had a boy James and we went through the counseling process at the ELWA Hospital,  and at the Catholic Hospital and then they told us that there is a chance of having children that will be born fee of HIV and I had the opportunity to work for UNMIL for some years. I also went through training for UNMIL and I went through the PMTCT process and I took advantage of it at the Catholic Hospital.

 

Gameli: So you are telling us that it is possible for two people who are living with HIV to have a child or children who are not HIV infected?

 

Jojo: Yes it is possible because treatment is available. When we got our treatment we did our CD4 count and the CD4 Count was very high at the time and mine was around 850 CD4 count so we went around having a child. (CD4 is a  cell type in the immune system which HIV uses to multiply itself in the human body. When the number of such cells in the body are reduced to a certain level, then you start showing signs of AIDS. When a person gets infected the level starts falling with multiplication of the virus leading to the viral load rising and the CD4 Count falling. When the CD4 count drops to 350, treatment should begin for HIV because at that level the person can start to develop AIDS.)

 

Gameli: So after the children came, post-delivery what are the things that you were told to do?

 

Jojo: Well what we were told to do was  to take the medication on time and then she was always at the hospital for medical checkup. When she got in labour she went to the hospital and then the doctor checked her, they gave her some medication to reduce the chance of passing the medication on to the children. She took advantage of it. She went through it and she was delivered safely.

 

Gameli: So what advice would you give to other people who may be living with HIV and who may want children in the future?

 

Jojo: Well the advice that I got for them is to look after the baby that is born from an HIV positive mother. It  is a bit expensive I must admit it. The advice I got for them is there are chances that your baby can be born free of HIV provided you went to the counseling,  you did an HIV test and you know your HIV status especially when you are HIV positive and then you can take advantage of the prevention from mother to child transmission service with  the counseling process and the doctor’s advice. You must do your CD4 count regularly and know the level of the CD4 count before you become pregnant.

 

Gameli: How are the kids doing? Are they going to school?

 

Jojo: Yeah they are in school presently, in a day care and they are doing fine. They are just two years old now.

 

Gameli: Thank you very much Jojo for sharing your experience in a successful PMTCT service with our readers. I wish you all the best in your crusade to educate others on HIV prevention.