# HIV HEROES

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# H
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i v h e r o e s
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"Who are you?"
HIV—three letters that turned my life
upside down. Many people think I
must be unhappy and despair over my
life! Well, yes, I am indeed HIV positive,
but primarily I am a mother, friend
and partner.
For many years I had been leading a
double life in a marriage conditioned
by violence, but when I was diagnosed
20 years ago, I realized something had
to change. The diagnosis was a wakeup
call because it made me see how
wonderful, but also how terribly short,
(my) life can be.
In spite of my fears, I decided to openly
share my HIV status because I don’t
want to hide and have to lie about who
I am, and so I founded PULSHIV in Vienna.
It’s a special interest group organised
by and for people with HIV/AIDS
and their families. We provide information,
counsel and guidance on HIV and
often live with it ourselves. We’re people
with and without HIV/AIDS who
have taken their lives and futures into
their own hands.
"Why are you doing this?"
Today, I’m living a “normal” life. I work,
meet friends, have hobbies and spend
as much time as I can with my family.
My social circle is very important to me;
they’re my friends through good and
bad times. Over the years, I’ve come
to realise how important it is to share
your problems with others. Many people
with HIV think that they’re alone
with it, but that’s not true. Communication
is essential to my quality of life.
I’ve been in a partnership with an HIVnegative
man for many years. At the
beginning, things were difficult because
many people didn’t accept our
relationship. We faced a lot of prejudices
which, as far as I’m concerned,
were completely unfounded because,
against all odds, we’re still together today.
My son was six when he learned about
my status—an age when he wasn’t yet
able to really grasp what HIV meant—
but with professional help he has learned
to live with it. There were times
when he talked about it a lot, but today
I feel that HIV is as normal a part
of life to him as is eating or taking a
shower is.
It was my conscious choice to become
an advocate for the interests and concerns
of people with HIV. In today’s
society, this illness continues to be a
taboo and, way too often, something
people whisper about behind closed
doors while the real problems are not
discussed. The majority of HIV-positive
people are scared to openly deal with
their illness because, even in 2015,
too many of us still harbour prejudices
against HIV and fear coming in contact
with it.
We finally have to get rid of the myths
of the 80s and draw attention to all the
positive changes instead. We have to
put HIV on the agenda, raise awareness
for this issue and strongly encourage
communication on a sociopolitical
level. That’s what drives me.
Through donating my blood to be part
of the #HIVHEROES Edition, I want to
make people understand that in dayto-day
dealings with it, HIV poses no
risk to anyone.
Living with HIV isn’t only taxing for
those of us who have it. My true heroes
are my son, my partner and my
parents, who have always stood by me
despite the struggles and supported
me through some hard times. If we all
managed to look beyond our own borders
once in a while, we could all be
heroes.