First HIV Postive Zambian Woman Elected As MP Narrates Her Story

 


Princess Kasune is one of Zambia's most outspoken HIV activists and was elected as an opposition MP in August.
She tested positive to HIV in 1997 and the next year went public about her status, defying her husband - and traditional taboos - in doing so.

"I felt like a ray of light had hit me after testing positive and I shouted 'Praise God!'. Such a reaction was not humanly possible even for me to understand but I looked at it as an avenue to change the lives of others," the 40-year-old told the BBC.

"When I realised that I was HIV-positive, I realised that I had a responsibility to spread the news from how it can be contracted, how it can be prevented and also breaking the stigma and the silence."

For most of her life, Ms Kasune has been affected by the virus. Growing up in a rural village, she lost both her parents to Aids when she was 14 years old.
She became the head of the household, providing for her siblings, and was then married off at 18.
Driven by a passion to see a generation free of HIV, her own decision to go public about her status divided opinion - not at least with her late husband whom she suspects infected her as his first two wives had died.
Driven by a passion to see a generation free of HIV, her own decision to go public about her status divided opinion - not at least with her late husband whom she suspects infected her as his first two wives had died.
Her own family was also against her status being known.

"I have not taken any moment in my life lightly but I have realised that to each one of us, there is a challenge and in this generation, HIV is one of those challenges," she says.

"One day a question will be asked about what we did about HIV and I hope I will be able to answer my grandchildren and many generations to come.

"I long to see an HIV-free generation and hopefully a day without stigma."

And she has travelled worldwide as part of her mission, meeting leaders like former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush, as well as outgoing UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
Yet it is in Zambia that Ms Kasune, who has authored Warrior Princess - a book chronicling her life, wants to make the biggest impact.
This is what prompted her to run for parliament for the opposition United Party for National Development and become the first publicly known HIV-positive MP.
During her maiden speech, she reminded her fellow lawmakers about the importance of testing for the virus.

"It's important for parliamentarians in particular to go for HIV tests in public or share their HIV status because leaders set the pace in everything that we do in a country," Ms Kasune later told the BBC.

"I think leaders have a big role and many more people will follow when they do that."

Her constituency is located about an hour north of the capital, Lusaka, and her visits are celebrated.
At a school she has helped construct through Fountain of Life, an organisation she co-founded, pupils sing her praises.

BBC