SOME of you might still remember back in the day, around 2004 when a man, Pastor Reki Jimu would appear on a Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) Television sponsored program Positive Talk saying these words, “Handisi Mu Depature Lounge, ndiri kurarama ndiri HIV positive,” loosely translated, I am not in the departure lounge, I am just someone living positively with HIV. Those were the days AIDS claimed lives and accounted for majority of deaths in the country. There was no antiretroviral therapy (ART) back them.
By Michael Gwarisa
It is possible that many believe by now, Pastor Reki is probably dead and AIDS claimed his life since the programs are no longer running on TV. Well guess what? The man is still alive and well and one might not recognise him especially if you are going by that ZBC memory of him. Everyone who assumed the clergyman had left this earth is justified to do so considering the environment that prevailed when he came out publicly declaring his HIV status. An HIV diagnosis back then was a death sentence. It was equivalent to a Delta variant COVID-19 diagnosis if not worse.
Pastor Reki is probably one of the few people from his time who survived AIDS’s double edged sword. At one point, he reached the AIDS stage. That is probably around the same period he would appear on the Population Services International (PSI) TV programs. However, due to HIV treatment innovations, Pastor Reki’s AIDS stage was reversed and is now HIV positive with an undetectable viral load.
I am living with HIV. I however at some stage reached the AIDS stage, Kuenda panhovo chaipo (bedridden due to AIDS). However, because of the Antiretroviral Drugs (ARVs), my condition was reversed from being AIDS to becoming HIV positive. To those who saw me back then, I would appear on the TV programs Perspective and Positive Talk.
“By then I was a volunteer at the PSI. I am one of the people who were instrumental to the opening of the OI unit at Chtungwiza Hospital. I am one of the guys who volunteered to teach and raise awareness about HIV and AIDS in some of the country’s major hospitals such as Parirenyatwa. We were doing this to ensure people would accept their status and not harm themselves,” said Pastor Reki.
Pastor Reki recounted the horror days when stigma and discrimination was rife and some people took their own lives while some children who were born HIV positive would harm their parents as pay-back for transmitting the virus to them.
“Stigma was real. My first wife before she died, she would have miscarriages and I was HIV positive already. I remember my family would blame her for the misfortunes. I on the other hand was losing weight and the Sangomas would say it was my brother who had a goblin and it was drinking my blood and yet it was AIDS easting me up. I was even ex-communicated form church when I told them I was HIV positive.
“A number of people back then found it hard to accept their HIV positive status. Some committed suicide, some attempted suicide and many other bad things. For children it was worse, they would hate their parents. Some would even go to the extent of murdering their own parents blaming them for bringing the virus into their lives.”
More than 20 years after his HIV diagnosis, Pastor Reki is now a beacon of hope for the Chtungwiza community as he now dedicates his time to counselling HIV positive individuals as well as teaching them to accept their status so as to live positive and fulfilling lives.
“After I had recovered from my AIDS stage, we combined forces with some of my colleagues to raise awareness on HIV and to encourage people to take their medications religiously. We help our colleagues to accept their status. We also teach them that no one prophet and preacher can cure HIV and they should never stop taking their medications. We conduct routine counselling as well. When we started taking these ARVs, it was a cumbersome process unlike these days where one just takes one tablet per day. Back then, you needed to down a bunch of tablets daily and it was a traumatising process.
“In the morning we would take Stavudin and Lamivudin and in the evening we would take Stavudin, Lamivudin and Nevirapine. You would get these medications in your first two weeks. We would also take Stalinev but that drug had its own side effects. At times you would develop a hunchback, or it would suck is in your buttocks, in women some, breasts would grow abnormally. These signs would make people living with HIV targets of society stigma and discrimination. These days people are taking Tenolam D (TLD) which is a single pill combining three medications namely Tenofovir, Lamivudine and Delutogravia,” said Pastor Jimu.
He encouraged people living with HIV to always visit nearest health facilities in the event they develop any side effects to HIV medications. He encouraged those who are hesitant to get treatment to take up treatment and ensure they do not progress to the AIDS stage. In 2004, Pastor Jimu started his organisation called the Christian Fellowship Network Trust which seeks among other things to preach ART adherence and break the HIV related stigma.
“I started this organisation because as people with HIV, we would face a lot of stigma and discrimination in the churches and communities. The stigma was so deep rooted, people wouldn’t even want to share the same kitchen utensils with you or use the same toilet with someone who is HIV positive. The organisation is both a support group for people living with HIV and a religious organisation where we uplift and encourage each other to live positively. We also break myths that are perpetuated in religious and spiritual circles where some clergy men claim to cure HIV or where some believe you can sleep with an HIV negative virgin or a girl with albinism to cure HIV.”
Pastor Jimu has seen it all. He has lived through the dark of HIV and AIDS and has witnessed hope being restored, thanks to antiretroviral medications. Two decades later, the levels of stigma and discrimination have greatly reduced, thanks again to his efforts and courage to go public and inform the world that he as just as normal as anyone who is not living with the virus.
He has since remarried and they were blessed with one child. They all volunteer around encouraging uptake of HIV treatment and adherence to ART medications in the sectors they hold influence. Pastor Jimu remains one of the rarely celebrated HIV and AIDS heroes in Zimbabwe whose impact to the national HIV program has left an indelible mark that will only take time to erase. Through his bravery, more people came out publicly and have accepted that HIV is just a disease that requires managing and treatment.
