Diana Moraa Moracha is a walking embodiment of courage and optimism that a bad start does not always end badly; it can end well.
She is a young woman living with HIV and she is an advocate of this.
The sassy and comical Moraa was born with the disease and only discovered it when she was seven years.
At the time, there were no ARV drugs. Her parents had to go back home with her and wait for fate to take its course. Her dad was HIV negative but her mother was positive.
They relocated to Chebilat from Eastleigh. Her parents thought she would not make it past 12 years. At 13 years, she was put on ARVs and her life changed.
Moraa hilariously, Moraa recalls that she stopped taking her ARVs when “Babu wa Loliondo” wave spread.
She took a bus ride to Arusha where she took a concoction alleged to heal every disease including HIV. It never worked and pushing her viral load to dangerous levels.
“My mum tried to convince me to get back to medication but nikamwamwbia wacha tungoje and tukangoja two years down the line bado sikuwa nimepona,” she recounted on Bonga na Jalas.
In 2015, she went public about her status but it is not something she had planned. She did an interview about her journey with a local media house and the story was published online.
Her friends on social media were surprised and thought that it was a smear campaign but would later understand that she is all positive about it.
Moraa adds that a lot of men approach her.
“A lot of men approach me wanting to date me but HIV seem like a thr *** in this relationship so there is me, there is HIV and there is the man. They will come and tell you mimi nakupenda lakini si mind status yako…” she says.
She jocularly says that she has been on dates that passed as counselling sessions than a date.
Moraa urges people to always protect themselves when making out.
She advises: “After 16 years of being on ARVs….allow me to introduce to you how a person living with HIV in 2021 looks like. There is a life beyond those 2 lines confirming you are HIV positive it’s not an easy one especially with the stigma but you are #MoreThan your HIV status…..You are not the virus, You’re just hosting it. If you are HIV negative, stay like that because taking the medication your whole life is not funny.”
