TODAY, June 22, 2020 marks exactly 54 years since Tendayi Westerhof, a woman who has grown to be a force to reckon in the fight for the rights of persons living with HIV in Zimbabwe was born in the rural villages of the midlands province.
Despite having ascended to fame as a model back in the 90s, Tendayi’s humble rural background has made her tough and unwavering in the things she holds dearly at heart. At one point in 1979 towards the end of the liberation struggle, Tendayi together with her schoolmates came this close to joining the liberation movement and were determined to walk to Mozambique and join other youngsters who had taken it upon themselves to fight for the liberation of Zimbabwe.
Her fighter spirit saw her excel in various aspects in school and to date, she has already authored two books. In 2002 however, a time when most lives were being lost to the devastating AIDS, Tendayi tested positive for HIV and for once, she felt all that energy and zeal fade away.
To get an insight on Tendayi’s life and journey as an HIV activist, our editor Michael Gwarisa caught up with Tendayi on the occasion of her birthday.
TESTING HIV POSITIVE
When I discovered that I was HIV positive in 2002, it was so devastating to me, I was afraid, I was uncertain of the future,” said Tendayi.
During that same period, stigma and discrimination against persons living with HIV was rife. The stigma was so vivid and thick that one could even taste it.
“I didn’t know for how long I would live because all I knew back then was that people would die from what was called AIDS. We would see these deadly pictures of skeletons whereby the message of that time was AIDS kills.
“I lived on despite my fear, I managed to deal with everything that an HIV positive person could encounter. I dealt with the denial, I dealt with the stigma though every day I would live in world full of stigma and discrimination and even that stigma and discrimination was being extended even to my own children.”
Around the time when Tendayi tested positive, some of her kids were still very young but the stigma did not spare them even at school or playing fields and this bothered Tendayi a lot as she had to deal with the double burden of dealing with her own new discovered status as well as protect her children from the toxic stigma which was being inflicted on her children.
“As a woman I said whatever my circumstances, it was not the end of life, it was not the end of the world. I had to make a decision to live on my own. To say I want to live because HIV is just a condition which is manageable.”
Tendayi did not waste time and was initiated on Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) and also went through the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) to ensure her child who is now a teenager would be born HIV free.
After testing HIV positive, Tendayi left her modelling occupation to found the Public Personalities Against AIDS Trust (PPAAT) to encourage other public figures and celebrities to be open about their HIV status. Since then, she has never looked back in terms of fighting for the rights of people living with HIV.
HIV ACTIVISM JOURNEY
“My journey as an HIV activist started after my public disclosure of my status in 20o2. Since then I have never looked back. I went into this field of HIV activism without anybody teaching me anything. I had to express myself how I felt. I had to express myself how I felt that the country and everybody else should respond to HIV and AIDS as it affected women, as it affected every single individual.
“So nobody taught me, I had so much because I had seen a lot of suffering of person with HIV, the stigma that was around and the fear of speaking out that many people were experiencing. Some were juts pretending to do AIDS work for various reason but I just felt that we have to raise a group of people who had to stand up to the say we are living with the disease, we want ABCD and this is how we want the response to end AIDS to happen,” she said.
Tendayi says coming out in the open about her HIV positive status has also earned her friends and foes but she says she will soldier on regardless of the adversity and animosity she faces in her line of duty.
“I have also learnt a lot from many other people in Zimbabwe. People living with HIV in all our diversities.
“They were others with whom we joined hands with and did collective advocacy for treatment, for breaking the stigma, for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV, for policy, for leadership, for recognition as women and people living with HIV and collectively we have seen over the years a lot of changes happening for the betterment of people living with HIV and to also halt the further spread of HIV.”
LOWEST POINT IN LIFE
Tendayi’s children have all grown now. Two of them are already working and one of them has already completed University while the other one is still in high school. She also says she also owes her life and health to God and the support she would get from her fellow church mates after she had tested positive. At some point, Tendayi had to survive on food hand-outs and would sleep in some squalid shelter just to get by.
“I thank my family, my children and also my divine connections for this life. People who encouraged me to pray over the years. I have led a very complicated life and many people don’t even know that they were days that I had nowhere to sleep with mu child who now doing A level.
“Sometimes you would just see walking in the meeting looking all groomed up but they did not even know that I had slept hungry with nowhere to sleep. I had nothing. I have friends who have stood with me. Some would give me food, some would give me money. Some would encourage me to say Tendayi keep going. Whenever I never I tried to make a public outcry that my life was not ok nobody believed me because they thought I had everything and yet I had nothing. I have lived at the lowest stage of what is called poverty, but I worked hard”
DATING AND REMARRIAGE
“I never did anything that could compromise my health when I knew I was HIV positive. I said to God I want to live, I pray for this life, give me wisdom in the way I conduct myself and in the way I do business so that I can help many other people.
“Today I am celebrating my life. I am 54 years old aging gracefully in this ageing pandemic of HIV. My children were there, they supported me. I tried by all means to live a healthy life and even from the time this lockdown started I am a workout enthusiast even though at times I get discouraged. I do power walks of 4 kilometers every day. I also eat healthy, the foods that our grandmothers used to eat, that is the food I eat.
“One would ask, is Tendayi ever going to get married again, does she have a partner, is she dating? Of course sometimes I do have friends, maybe one day when I meet the very rightful person I will enter into that kind of a serious relationship.
“My children were too young and I was waiting for my last born to reach the age of 18 and then I decide what I want to do with my life. I am at peace with myself and I thank the heavenly father God for giving this wonderful life.”
Meanwhile, Tendayi was recently appointed a board member representing persons living with HIV in the National AIDS Council (NAC) board.