The Voice (Francistown)
Moses Maruping
7 August 2007
interview
Despite the rampant stigma associated with the HIV/AIDS scourge in the past, David Ngele braved all odds to become the first male Motswana to publicly announce his HIV/AIDS status. MOSES MARUPING sits down with the tireless crusader.
Thank you for agreeing to meet with us on such a short notice.
Q. We are extremely humbled. Would you care to tell us who you are?
I'm just an ordinary person who likes to socialize. I was born on the 9th of February, 1950 in Chadibe, a small village 15 kilometres north of Francistown. That's where I grew up, as a young farmer, since I was born in a farming family.
I went to primary school there and when I finished I joined my mum in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe where I did my secondary schooling from 1971-74, before returning home. I then found a job as a boilermaker until I left in 1990 because of a problem with my eyes.
Q. Interesting! What happened thereafter? could you take us through your journey until the time you learnt of your HIV positive status?
I then joined the civil service as a driver in 1992. My interest at the time was to go out and meet with people, especially women.
I married my first wife, Motswakgakala Ngele in 1982 and we now have three children and two grandchildren.
During my working life, I've worked as a driver for various companies in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. I guess it is at that time that I got exposed to many temptations, including having women friends. There was a time when I constantly suffered from boils and this is when I decided that I needed to do various medical tests to determine what could be wrong with me.
Q. When exactly did you learn of your HIV/AIDS status and what was the first thing that came to your mind?
Early in 1993 I got very sick. I had boils on and off. I also had terrible headaches. I then went to a health clinic complaining about body pains and the nurse there suggested that I get an HIV/AIDS test done.
I agreed. On the 17th of April, 1993 I took the test and the results were released on the 28th of April, 1993. That is when I learned about my sero-positive status. I was put on medication and began to get better.
When I was first informed of my status, three things came to mind. I was devastated. One was to commit suicide.
The second, I thought, was that life was a gift from God and that I should not take it out by myself.
The third was, I thought, let me go back to Batswana and educate them.
The nurse at the clinic referred me to the AIDS/STD Unit of the Ministry of Health for counseling and support.
The AIDS/STD Unit in turn referred me to the Red Cross Society where I received on-going counseling by the likes of Monkie Morake, Kgomotso More, Dr. Tshidi Moeti, Lydia Seeletso and Cookie Seretse. These are people who played a critical role in my life. They were able to build me.
I should hasten to mention that counseling helped me tremendously in allowing one to make informed decisions.
Q. When exactly did you publicly declare your status and what could have motivated you to publicize your status?
I went to the United States in September 1993 for a conference which exposed me to many other people living with HIV/AIDS from across the globe. There were 370 people from 17 different countries and this is the time when I became more daring and courageous to defy any odds in my way. Discrimination and isolation was very rife at the time. For anyone to talk of HIV/AIDS was a myth and I remember at the time a study was being undertaken in the Kasane district on the views and opinions of the general public about the people with HIV/AIDS. The study revealed that the majority of people said all people living with HIV/AIDS should be castrated, ostracized and quarantined. It became even scarier.
The AIDS/STD Unit of Ministry of Health and Red Cross continued to give me all the necessary support and counseling, preparing me to go out in public as I had indicated that I needed to tell the world about my sero-positive status. On the 24th of November, 1993 I declared my status in public through the radio and television. Many people who saw me walking in the streets could not believe it. They had the impression that since I was HIV positive I was supposed to be frail, weak with brittle hair and in fact should be dying from the disease. Some were even saying I was bluffing about my story and was bought by the government to pass on HIV/AIDS messages. I continued to eat healthy foods and did exercises daily and also attending workshops and conferences. I should say that I am still kicking, fit and strong like anybody else!
Q. What else transpired in your life back then which sort of motivated you to persevere through all odds?
Since pronouncing my HIV/AIDS status I never looked back. In 1994 the Ministry of Health sent me to an HIV/AIDS conference, which was held in Nairobi, Kenya where I also had a chance to share and exchange HIV/AIDS views with people from different African countries. You know, all the tell-tales and experiences. We formed what we call the Network of African People Living with HIV/AIDS, which largely coordinates the respective networks we have in our native countries.
When I returned home, I formed a support group called BONEPWA (Botswana Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS). It was first registered in June 2000 but only came into operation in October the same year. We used to have about five support groups but right now we have about 120 across the country. These groups have come in handy as we continue to see more and more people living positively with HIV/AIDS. It wasn't easy for me in the past. People used to think of HIV/AIDS as a death sentence. Look at me now.
Q. Have you ever been mistreated because of your HIV/AIDS status and if so, would you kindly share with us the experiences?
Yes I have. I remember vividly when my child had dropped out of school whilst at Francistown Secondary School because of pregnancy. When I went around different schools to seek for re-admission for my daughter, I could feel there was a lot of negative energy from the people who were supposed to help me. I remember whilst waiting to get into the headmaster's office at Shashe Secondary School. I was the 10th person in line. When it was my turn to enter, I did very calmly just like the people before me but the headmaster realized it was me and he started scolding his secretary for letting people in his office. He said to her, "Ke eng o letla mongwe le mongwe mo ofising yame?" I felt extremely offended and I was never helped. I had a feeling my child was being punished because of me. However all went well after the ministry announced on the radio that children who had dropped out of school have a right to go back to class. I then took my child to Ledumang Secondary where she completed her studies.
Q. In as far as HIV/AIDS information is concerned do you think the messages are being channeled right?
We are getting there. However, I have a feeling that a lot of people, even those taking antiretroviral therapy are still not well informed about this treatment. Hence some still maintain their old lifestyles such as drinking alcohol and smoking. I think treatment literacy is not enough. Even we as BONEPWA are struggling to reach people in the rural area. However, we are doing all in our power to be visible in rural areas. We only have nine coalition groups in rural areas but we would like them to increase using the existing visible Ministry of Health structures. Our government is our main donor but we also have the like of SIDA, ACHAP, Pathfinder International and PACT.
Q. What is your organization doing currently which might be of interest to the public?
We have started a programme called "Ringing the Bell" which is basically targets school going kids from primary level. Through this programme we hope that we could teach and nurture young kids with rich information about HIV/AIDS so that by the time we reach Vision 2016, we might have no new infections. It is coordinated with the help of Ministry of Education and UNICEF. We also have what we call "Food Security" where we simply through our support groups across the country teach people ways of how to get their own food without having to wait for food baskets from the government. We want to limit dependency of people on the government.
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