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Matlakala Kosenki
Matlakala Kosenki was a broken and defeated woman when she first walked into the Ulysses Gogi Modise Wellness Clinic.
The 40-year-old mother of four weighed just 30kg. She was so thin, her teenage daughter weighed more than her. That was four years ago.
Fast forward to 2016, Kosenki, who works temporary jobs, is a strong, healthy woman – not just physically, but spiritually as well.
It’s difficult to believe her when she says she was a mere step away from death before she started taking antiretroviral treatment.
In March 2010, Kosenki fell ill and her family took her to a local private doctor. The doctor confirmed she had a TB and HIV co-infection.
HIV and TB co-infection is very common in South Africa. It is estimated by the SA National Aids Council that about 70% of all people diagnosed with TB are infected with HIV as well.
The doctor advised her to go to the Ulysses Gogi Modise Wellness Clinic as she would receive the best treatment at no cost.
Kosenki says: “And indeed, I received the best care. The wellness centre gave me treatment as soon as I arrived from the doctor. I attended the clinic there, and it arranged for a social worker to see me.
“The staff also counselled me and ensured home-based care workers came to my house to check on me because I was weak and couldn’t travel. The caregivers would pick me up every time I had an appointment at the clinic,” she says.
“When I look back to where I came from, my heart sinks. I would have died if they had not given me the ARVs and the love and support they continually give me.
“Today, I weigh 86kg and I am strong and healthy. Some people don’t even believe me when I say I am HIV-positive,” she says.
Kosenki now uses her experience to inspire people who have recently been diagnosed with HIV in her community in Kathu.
Obakeng Thukamelo
Finding out you are HIV-positive is daunting, especially if you had no intention of knowing your status.
For Obakeng Thukamelo, he got the shock of his life when he found out three months ago that he was living with the virus.
Thukamelo (33) had accompanied his girlfriend for a routine visit to Ulysses Gogi Modise Wellness Clinic when a nurse suggested he take an HIV test.
Afraid of what the results might be, he declined, saying he would come back another time.
But as they left the clinic, the nurse’s words to his girlfriend, asking if she had told Thukamelo the truth, haunted him.
“This bothered me because ever since I’ve known my girlfriend, she has been taking medication,” Thukamelo says. “She said it was TB tablets. Even though they looked different to the ones I had taken before, I believed her.
“I knew then that she was hiding something, but I let it slide,” he says.
Curiosity eventually got the better of Thukamelo, and he went back to the clinic in April. His worst fears were confirmed. He was HIV-positive.
“At first I thought the nurse made a mistake, because I had never been sick,” he says.
“Shock, anger and hopelessness fell on me, but the nurse comforted me, telling me that it wasn’t the end of the world. She told me it wasn’t my fault or my girlfriend’s.
“By the time she took my blood to check my CD4 count, I was feeling better. I didn’t blame her, because I had the responsibility to use protection every time I had sex.”
The blood results came back, and Thukamelo began antiretroviral therapy.
He acknowledges that without the proper counselling he received at the clinic, he might have blamed his girlfriend for infecting him. But, most importantly, he says the support he received from the counsellors and nurses has made the love between them even stronger.
“We now both know our statuses and are taking treatment to ensure we remain healthy. We support each other and remind each other to take our treatment every night.”
