My day started off a little out  of sorts because I was late leaving for Port Alfred. I normally leave at 0600 and on this day I couldn't leave until 0945. We try and get there early because people tend enjoy their weekends and can begin drinking as early as 0800 in the morning. We didn’t get to Port Alfred until 1200. I was a little frustrated at the time we arrived because of the people we may have missed out on testing in the morning, but I kept telling myself that testing some were better than none. I met up with the counsellors that I work with in Bathurst, and we set out.

The first house that we went into had twin sisters who are 19 years old. Neither of the girls appeared very receptive to what we were saying, laughing when we asked about safe sex and condom use, then admitting that they are worried about HIV but won't use condoms. I become discouraged at times because sex, pregnancy, STI’s and HIV are really important and when young adults act so flippantly about it I become frustrated. South Africa has a staggering HIV rate, and if the young adults continue to treat it as a ‘non issue’ the problem will continue. So I was doing my best to remain neutral with their lack of interest when their test results showed that they were both positive. Twin sisters, 19 years old, both positive. To make matters even more confusing neither one of them said that they would tell their boyfriends, neither of them really showed any importance in the fact that they were positive and both refusing to start using condoms... what do you do in this situation? We are there to test and educate. I can’t drag people to the clinic for treatment, force them to use condoms or tell their partners their status... Okuhle and I walked out feeling pretty confused and a little baffled. 

The end of the day, everyone tired from going door to door.

Next house was a young 27 year old man. He was really receptive, asked a lot of questions, and listened to everything we had to say.... he is positive. He tests positive! Uh! I felt really bad for him because he told us of how he and his girlfriend were fighting and he thought they were broken up for good and he couldn’t talk to her about it. I walked out of the house feeling super confused... my first two houses and everyone had been positive... what kind of day were we going to have?!

Okay, well we’ll just go find his girlfriend's house and see if she wants to get tested. We walked up the street a ways and found this tiny little lady cooking food.  I couldn’t believe that this was his girlfriend for she was 17 – the only thing I was thinking was, “what is a 27 year old man doing with a 17 year old girl?” My brain couldn’t process how young and small she was, she had the smallest little fingers that I didn’t even want to pierce with the lancet. Siviwe and I were terrified that she was going to be positive and every second word out of our mouth was about safe sex, abstinence and condom use. When we completed her test I was praying so hard that she would be negative. I was even holding my breath when I checked her results – she was negative! Thank GOD! We couldn’t tell her that her boyfriend was positive but once again we educated her in the most convincing way that we could that condoms were a really good way to prevent HIV.  Siviwe and I left that house feeling like we were floating – we were so so relieved that she was negative!



This man's ID said that he was 100 years old... and I was testing him for HIV!

We then went into this man's house and tested him, a 100 year old man, for HIV. The main reason I wanted to test him was to talk to him and hear his stories -mainly to hear how he has managed to stay so healthy for so long! He was so spry! I also like to ask the elders to talk to their children and grandchildren to practice safe sex and stop the spread of HIV. The elders are really respected for their knowledge.

The last house of the day was a middle aged man who was really interested, and incredibly knowledgeable on the topic of HIV. When I asked if he and his wife used condoms he said, “yes, because my wife has HIV.” Oh!  We talked about his risk and about the possibility that he was positive. After his wife told him that she was positive they had begun using condoms, and that was five monthes ago. He told me that he was fully expecting to be positive and after five months of preparing himself, he was ready to be tested. Once again I was praying! I didn’t know what I was praying for because how could I pray for him to be negative when the chances of him being negative were so slim? So, I thought, I guess I just pray that he takes the news that he’s positive well... Seemed like a pretty week prayer in that moment... We sat and waited for ten minutes for the results, once again holding my breath because I was hoping he was negative but at the same time telling myself that there was ‘no way’ that he could be when his wife who he was having unprotected sex with was positive. The tests were finished and he was negative! He didn’t believe me. I didn’t even believe it myself. He was negative! I almost started crying, and he just sat there staring at me and at the test results. We sat there checking and re-checking the results in complete disbelief. He was ecstatic because he went into the test ‘knowing’ that he was positive, and here I was telling him he was negative. I will test him again in a couple weeks to confirm the results – but so far so good!


I try and get photos of cows for my nephew - he loves them..... I'm scared of them!