Martha Phiri (not her real name) is a vibrant and cheerful 18-year-old adolescent young woman living with HIV. Her enchanting smile and warm personality epitomise the soul of a survivor. Born in a family of three girls as the last born, it was not easy for her to accept that she was the only one born with HIV in her family.

Wondering why she was the only child required to take medication every morning at home, Martha narrates that she gathered the courage to confront the truth and asked her grandmother why she felt treated differently and required to take medication every day.

“I had long known that there was something different about me. The fact that I was the only child in our home taking daily medication out of three sisters left me with so many questions. So, I had to ask my grandmother what was wrong with me,” Martha narrates.

She explains that her mother died when she was only one year old and that she and her siblings were left in the custody of her grandmother.

Despite the effort by her grandmother to convince her that being HIV positive was not the end of her life and that many people out there were living healthy lives despite being HIV positive, Martha says her grandmother’s confirmation of her being born with HIV left her mentally distressed.

“Her confirmation left me so devasted. I kept telling myself that life was so unfair to me. In my mind, death sounded like a better option. I just wanted to join my mother,” Martha re-counts.

Having resolved to die, Martha started skipping her medication, at times as long as three weeks.

Martha started isolating herself from family and friends. Her academic performance was disturbed, and she had to repeat specific grades.  Worse still, before she opened up to her teachers about her status, Martha would get punished for missing particular tasks due to her rushing back home to go and take her medication.

With time, her lack of consistency in her taking of medication caused her viral load to rise very high, and consequently, she became ill. At this point, the doctor decided to link Martha to Mary Phiri, a Psychosocial Counsellor working for the Eastern Province Health Office under the Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA) program to access mental health services.

“My life changed when I started my psychosocial counselling sessions with Auntie Mary. Through these sessions, I learnt that being HIV positive was not a death sentence,” Martha says.

Since she completed her counselling sessions, Martha says she is now very consistent with her medication and her viral load is now suppressed. She says she is now very optimistic about life and finds solace in music whenever she feels low.

“Because of the counselling services I have received from the CETA program, I was able to open up to my teachers about my status, and they have been so supportive since then,” she explained.

Martha attributes her well-being to the psychosocial counselling services received under CETA and encourages others to seek the services. She is pleased with her Counsellor, Mary, whom she calls whenever she needs to talk to someone.

“I would have died if it were not for the counselling services, I received from CETA. I am so grateful for the support I received and hope it can be extended to others like me,” a joyful Martha says.

Now in Grade 8, Martha says she has been inspired by her CETA counsellor, Mary, and now dreams of becoming a nurse to assist other people living with HIV.

CIDRZ, through its CDC-sponsored CETA program, has partnered with the Ministry of Health through the Eastern Province Health Office to provide mental health support to people living with HIV to scale up retention and viral load suppression in the province.

In 2023, CETA’s counselling program managed to graduate 1,120 people living with HIV, like Martha, achieving a suppressed viral load.