Journalist Living With HIV Tells the Story of His Life

By Moses Nampala

When the HIV/AIDS tightened its grip on David Musengeri, everybody waited for the moment he would breathe his last.  But Musengeri, with support from local leaders, bounced right back and now holds public campaigns to sensitize people to the issues surrounding HIV/AIDS.
A client of the Centre for Disease Control, Tororo, Musengeri once had a CD4 count of two when the average count among people living with HIV/AIDS should be between 400-500.
CD4 cells are vital components of white blood cells that give the human body the ability to be immune and protect a person from infection. When HIV attacks and kills these cells, the person becomes prone to infections and eventually dies.
Musengeri, who worked for a print dailyin Busia,  developed skin rashes  and sores on his lips, mouth and throat. He lost weight drastically and  people began to shun him.
However, nine months after being placed on anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment he dramatically recovered his appetite and normal weight. The near-miraculous recovery soon attracted the attention of district leaders who now encourage him to speak at functions and inspire others.
His testimony has borne fruit. Over 20,000 people in the border district of Busia living with the virus are living healthy lives because of the seeds of hope that Musengeri and others have sowed.
Alice Papa, the programme officer of the National Community of Women Dealing with HIV/AIDS Uganda, says when they opened the Busia branch in 1999, their main challenge was low coverage of the advocacy message, particularly in remote sub-counties and institutions of learning.
Recruitment of social workers yielded little.  The organization then  conceived the idea of roping in people living with the ailment and training them to do the work.. “We realised there was need to impart communication skills in the new advocacy team,” says Papa.
Musengeri proved particularly adept. “The induction had not only moulded Musengeri into a wonderful public orator in key dialects, but also an icon, who gave hope,” Papa says.
Zewulesi Nafula, a cloth vendor and mother of two in Busia, recalls how depressed she was after learning that she was HIV-positive and how Musengeri brought her out of it. 
She  had vowed to starve herself to death when relatives got Musengeri  to speak to her. “I had thought I was worse off, but when he narrated his situation, I was humbled. I called off the hunger strike,” confesses Nafula.
Musengeri’s health started to deteriorate in 1994. He lived in Masaba, Busia district with his siblings and parents. It was common for the family members to share syringes and needles. Even after the death of two of his siblings, they treated it as a natural calamity, and never suspected HIV/AIDS. However, by the end of 1997, his condition had considerably deteriorated and he was always in and out of hospital.
Initially his employers were supportive. But after a bout of hospitalization he was handed a sealed envelope which said: . “Hand over all the company properties to the local agent. You have proven to be lazy and you are no longer part of us,” the letter read.
He fainted on reading this. When he recovered from the shock hours later, he was lying on a hospital bed and had been put on drip.
A month after he had resolved to commit his time and energy to advocacy, he was bitten by a dog infected with rabies. He was bedridden for the next two months and his CD4 count, which had amazingly increased from two to 143, rapidly shrank to 93.
“Once I completed treatment, my CD4 cell count rose again,” narrated Musengeri. And when he recovered the  National Community of Women Dealing with HIV/AIDS Uganda took him in. 
Musengeri who established his HIV status in 1997, lives with his wife Jennipher Musengeri, and their six children. None of them test positive and the couple is committed to safe sex.
“The advocacy role has seen me fly to Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Above all I am able to pay my children’s tuition fess with ease. God is great,” he says.

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HIV is No Death Sentence Says Positive Scribe  

By Arthur Baguma

 ‘’I have both bad and good news for you,’’ the doctor told journalist Elvis Basudde. ‘’The bad news is you are infected with the HIV virus. The good news is that there is medication that can help extend your life.’’
"If I told you that you were HIV-positive 10 years ago, it would have been bad news because there were either no anti-retroviral drugs available or they were unaffordable,’’ the doctor went on.
Soon after that fateful day, seven years ago, Basudde began losing weight. Within a month, the man who weighed 80kg had shrunk to 36kg.  He fell clinically sick with full-blown AIDS. "I was a mess. I looked at my body and saw a stranger. My face was sunken and I had became a skeleton," Basudde remembers.
His condition continued to deteriorate in spite of the best efforts of qualified doctors at the Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC) where he had been admitted. He underwent a brain scan which revealed that his brain had shrunk. He became unconscious for a week and relatives and friends were convinced he was going to die.
But Basudde made a decision that was to be his first step on a journey to recovery. He declared his status publicly and became the first journalist in East and Central Africa to declare his HIV status.
Today, he demonstrates no trace of his former condition. "My CD4 cell count has risen from 31 to 500," Basudde says, as he goes about his daily work.
"I have been able to live because I refused to interpret my condition as terminal. I also learnt to live positively. The first thing I did was to accept the infection as part of my life."
To many, Basudde is an inspiration. A university student who had contemplated committing suicide changed her mind after reading Basudde's testimony in 2002. She said her suffering was nothing compared to what Basudde had gone through.
"His testimony is an inspiring piece on how infected people can continue to live positively. The man's love for fellow humans is touching. You can see it in the way he went public.  His advice to the youth to avoid contracting the disease is invaluable," says David Kivumi.
Another beneficiary wrote: "He is undoubtedly a big inspiration, to people living with HIV/AIDS as well as relatives and friends of those who have been traumatised by the scourge. This is a challenge to those who infect others well knowing their status."
Because of young people's vulnerability, Basudde advises them: "You need to have a plan to protect yourselves from unsafe sex. Put abstinence first or use a condom. Never trust anyone else in life and never have a sexual relationship with anyone before testing for HIV."
He adds: "For those already infected with the virus, do not lose hope because HIV is not a death sentence. Be a fighter, do not think about how you got the virus or who gave it to you. What matters is your present. Tell others about your status and join networks of people living with HIV/AIDS."
Basudde is not only living with HIV/AIDS but has openly declared his sero status. He has encouraged thousands to prevent HIV infection not only in his community but globally. He has written many compelling stories on HIV/AIDS.
"His testimonies are inspiring. I was particularly inspired and changed by Basudde's personal testimony, which was published in 2005," Prossy Luzige, a woman living with the virus says.
Basudde says he publicly disclosed his sero status because he wanted to give a face to HIV, especially among professionals. To let them know that with good care, love, and treatment, one can still enjoy a good degree of health and even continue practising their profession.
Basudde does HIV advocacy by writing and sensitising people about HIV and helping reduce stigma and denial. Consequently, he won the Noerean Award for breaking the silence at the workplace. This is an award given to individuals who have broken the silence on HIV/AIDS at their workplace and made a contribution to their community.
He was among the pioneer 25 graduates of Positive Prevention (PP) training in Uganda and graduated as a peer/community educator. PP is a programme that puts individuals living with HIV at the forefront of reducing the transmission of the virus, a strategy that focuses on the HIV-positive individuals to prevent new infections and maintain their well being. The positive-living advocate has gone to schools, markets and in the community to sensitise the people about the dangers of AIDS.
Basudde who was once confined to a wheel chair for two years (2000-2002) and was deserted by his wife when seriously sick, now lives a normal life. His colleagues at The New Vision describe him as hard working and jolly.
Basudde’s message is: "Stigmatisation should be fought.  Anyone can contract HIV/AIDS..."