We fear being recognised…so we end up giving away our place in the queue

I know what it is to be HIV-positive; I know what it is to feel discrimination. When I used to go to the health centre I had to stand in a long queue and people would look at me. We fear being recognised by people who know us and so we end up giving away our place in the queue.

I ended up [abandoning] treatment until I came across an old friend. He took me to a health centre where he introduced me to a health worker who gave me some advice. I saw other people there who had gone through the same feelings but had already overcome them. Then I started taking the medicines.  They told me that they had been in the same situation for years, living normally with other people. They had passed the stage of prejudice. They showed me how I could get help.

Henriques Mautempo, male, 34 years, Mozambique

Every day from the 1st of July until the 21st of July we will be sharing extracts from 21 oral testimonies of 21 men and women living with HIV in Swaziland, Ethiopia and Mozambique. We’ll share these extracts here on this blog – with daily links on twitter and facebook. On the 21st of July, our partner the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) will launch a publication of these testimonies at the International AIDS conference 2014. Read more about 21 stories 21 days. Read more about the project