Tag: dreamtree

Positive power

hivstigmafighter

My lovely people,

Have you ever had a dilemma where you had to choose between what is best for you as a person or for us a HIV community? Last week I had to make such a choice. While getting ready for the 19th European AIDS Clinicians Society (EACS) between 18-21 october in Warsaw, Poland, on the 13th of October my sister died in Gihanga, Burundi.

So, I was torn between dealing with grief and organising the funeral of my sister and representing the HIV community. That was such a hard choice. Deep down, I knew my sister would have loved me to carry on doing what is my passion in life, representing and speaking out on behalf of the HIV community. So, with a broken heart I made my way to Warsaw to meet up with my dear HIV community and our partners.

I realised that we as a HIV community are able to contribute to fighting HIV stigma in so many different ways. Whenever we can we should be…

Speaking out

The 17th of October was an exciting day for me to speak out as HIV stigmafighter at the Stigma and Discrimination Forum which was organised a day before EACS. It was a great moment to point out the persisting stigma in the healthcare system. Thank you Virology Education for giving the HIV community an opportunity to speak out.

Group photo of forum participants and organisers. Photo credit: Krystian Lipiec

Debating

The next day I was a penalist in the WAVE (Women against Viruses Europe) workshop “I am every woman“ where I was representing migrant women living with HIV. I believe that powerful migrant women, open about their status, are key to briding the gaps between the healthcare system and migrant women living with HIV. How else will we improve access to PrEP? Thank you WAVE, for giving migrant women a chance to share their stories and insights.

Debating at the WAVE workshop

Sharing

On the 19th I shared my HIV jounery as a motivational speaker in the ‘community corner’ organized by European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG). I am so glad to see these dedicated spaces where the HIV community can interact with our partners. These are always the most vibrant spaces of any conference!

EACS Community Corner. Photo credit: Steven Doyle

Coaching

My week in Warsaw ended on a very high note! Together with AFEW International, Positive Women and Fundacija HelpNowHub I organised a positive lunch for Ukrainian women living with HIV in Poland. This was a great moment to work together on our dreamtrees and share and discuss our futures of living with HIV. I was truly touched by the resilience of the women I met, it was a very memorable Sunday!

You may have noticed that lately I have been priviliged to engage at different events, such as Fast-Track Cities, Virology Education’s Forum on Stigma and dicrimination and EACS 2023. I am noticing a very positive trend: More and more of our partners see the HIV community as empowered citizens in our global fight against HIV. If together we keep on making sure that our voices are being heard around issues such as PrEP diversity, fighting HIV stigma, growing up positively with HIV, we can bring real change to the lives of people living with HIV.

At EACS 2023 I was able to witness the great work the HIV community continues doing. Together with our partners, we can make the transformation of their work into our HIV community. Without the HIV community there will be no science.

Keep empowering our HIV community and be inspired by us for great positive outcomes!

Thank you sister, peace in heaven,

Eliane

A vivacious HIV community

hivstigmafighter

My lovely people, these past few days I have been very proactive and this is really boosting my confidence and energy as well.

Last weekend I was invited to give a THRIVE workshop during the 4th National HIV positive Day, an initiative by Utopia_BXL, which aims to bring together the Belgian HIV community and partners in Brussels, Belgium. This was a great opportunity to share THRIVE with the HIV community as a valuable contribution to living and ageing healthily with HIV.

The THRIVE workshop was scheduled in the afternoon after a morning mostly filled with presentations and discussion about quality of life, challenges of the migrant community in Belgium, etc. Following these, THRIVE is perfect as it is engaging and fun. In a THRIVE workshop there is no time for boring powerpoints or keynote speakers. No, THRIVE is all about being lively, excited and energetic. In other words about being vivacious!

THRIVE started by exploring the dreams and aspiration of the HIV community and our allies. This was the first time ever to use the unique dreamtrees co-designed with our thrivers. And participants were really passionate about making their own dreamtrees and eager to share their pieces of art. Aren’t they lovely?

What is so good about the dreamtree is that by sharing their future, the participants get very practical hints and tips from others on small steps they could take now. And also on how to remain patient and focused on achieving their bigger dreams.

The favourite game for many participants was our brand new addition, the Tower of Trust! They really loved the feature built into the game where you can ask questions that have been bothering them and that they would never even ask to their own family, friends, or doctor…

This was their chance to pose them by hiding them in the Tower of Trust. So, with all these questions hidden in the Tower, no one will know who posed it.

Then, when any question is drawn, we would discuss together without any judgement. Participants really loved this game because they have so much freedom to express themselves anonymously and then have lively discussions about issues that are bothering the HIV community. Many wished we would have more time to play it!

Example of a tower of trust question: “Why am I the only person in my entire family living with HIV?”

The final three steps (Spark, Grow and THRIVE) we celebrated being part of the HIV community. I ‘sparked’ the party with a poem called ‘It is my time to fight HIV stigma’. And yes, it was my debut to cite it in French! We then learned taking some baby steps towards living positively, Africa style, and finished the workshop with a positive dance, energized by some sweeping Africans songs.

What a workshop! I understood it was very much appreciated by the participants and some requested if we could do it again in future. It gave me immense joy to see that my vision to live and age healthily with HIV can be put into action by the HIV community itself.

I am so proud that THRIVE can be a part of creating a vivacious HIV community!

Peace,

Eliane