AIDS Resource Centre brings hope
The team from AIDS Resource Centre (ARC) based in Cape Town, South Africa, share stories from people who came for counselling and testing. ARC not only helps those people directly, but also has an impact on those people’s families.
Telling mum
"One girl feared she would be HIV-positive like her sister, but she tested negative. Her sister was afraid to tell their mother about her status so we encouraged her to bring her sister in to speak to us. Instead, she brought her sister and her mother to the centre!
"Their mother was very upset that it had taken her daughter five years to tell her. We introduced them to another HIV-positive person so they could share how to live a normal life and cope with the disease."
Counselling helps Gloria look to the future
"Gloria tested positive and struggled to accept her status. During the counselling session she told us she was having unprotected sex with her new boyfriend. We encouraged her to disclose her status and bring him in for a test. Having tested negative, he asked for 'space' and she also lost her job and accommodation.
"Throughout the time we were praying with and for her. She asked us for a Bible and when she opened it at random, the verse spoke to her about family and children. That same day her step-mother phoned after five years without contact and passed the phone to Gloria’s child who was two years old. This was the first words she ever had with her child who lives with Gloria's sister. Gloria saw this as 'a miracle'. She can now look to the future and has found a job and accommodation, and is excited about going to church and joining a support group."
Doris' story
"Doris was sent for an HIV test by her employer. After testing positive the ARC team were asked to support her. We heard how her mother died when she was 16 years old, leaving her to head up her household of siblings, one of whom died of alcohol poisoning. She had few friends and her two children were living with their father. She did not want to disclose her status to her two younger siblings who viewed her as 'a mother'. Doris herself was born out of rape and was feeling she was 'a waste' and had nothing to live for.
"When I told her that she was wrong in thinking she was a waste and showed her how God saw her she started to find hope. She told me how she desired God in her life. During our sessions we unpacked her dreams and started to work on a business plan for her as she was 'a weight-lifter' with a passion for training! She had won a few Muscle Mania titles! She continues to pop in to the Centre regularly to chat and discuss her business plans."
