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A Kenyan man Brian Omondi, who was born with HIV, is sharing his experience with the world, The Kenyan man says he did not find out about the virus until his mother passed away.
        22-year-old Omondi says he was 14 years old when he found out about his status Brian Omondi, he narrated his experience as someone who has been living with the Human Immuno deficiency Virus since he was born. The young man recounted his story in a chat with BBC. The young man explained that he started taking the anti-retroviral tablets when he was 10 years old. He said he did not know about his status even when he started taking the anti-retroviral tablets. According to him, he only found out about his status when he was 14 years old after his mother passed away.
        Omondi, who is now an HIV activist working with a church group, explained that his status was not picked up at birth. He said his mother decided to get him tested when he got sick frequently. He said: "I was sick most of the time but the condition worsened, so my mum decided that I should get tested. That is when I tested positive and started taking the ARVs, but my mum never told me why I was taking those tablets.  After his mother's death, Omondi revealed that he went to live with his aunt and her neighbours found out about his status and began mocking him. He said parents often warned their kids not to play with him. Omondi said: "I remember this girl in high school, we met in person and she addressed me as: 'You HIV person.' This hurt me." The young man said he does not blame his mother for not telling him about his status. He said: I think she could have been open with me but on the other hand I cannot blame her because she was trying to protect me at that age. It is hard! You find that you will be stigmatising yourself, you will be asking yourself some questions like: 'If these people find out about my status how will they take me? How will they treat me?
        Aid group BBC also spoke to another HIV positive lady who also found out about her status after her mother died. The lady identified as Winnie Orende explained that her doctor asked her to get tested at 12 years old after her mother died of HIV. She said: "When I lost my mum, after two months, my doctor called my older sister and asked that I go to the hospital alone and see him. I wondered why me? Because the worst thing is that I am the only one in a family of four who is living with the virus. This really affected me for some time." Orende said she faced stigma from the community, where they were calling her names. She expressed that she would have preferred if her parents told her. The lady said: "I face stigma from the community where I stay here in Kongowea, Mombasa. The problem started when they knew my status. People were just calling me names. I felt bad. It would have been better if they told me about my status, rather than another person telling me about it. I wanted to kill myself, but then I realised that even if I killed myself, my sister would suffer. So I stopped having suicidal thoughts.