Name: Joeli Colati
Age: 27
Country: Fiji
There
is a peculiar silence associated with HIV in many societies. This silence means
that there is little or no acknowledgement that HIV as an issue that the
society has to deal with. People in the community who know that they are
infected with HIV cannot talk about their status because of the very real fear
that family, friends and community members will reject them. And as the
silence, fear and rejection persist, so the virus thrives.
Breaking
the silence and confronting the stigma and discrimination that surrounds HIV are
among the most effective weapons we have for tackling the epidemic in every
community.
My
name is Joeli Colati and I’m 26 years of age.
Being infected with HIV for the past 4 years is being the perfect filter
to my life. I have been introduced to exceptional people and everyday heroes I
would not have met otherwise. Being infected I know that I have rights to
knowledge, rights to speak out and be heard, rights to be respected and rights
to have love. I continue to develop true and real human relationships with my
family, workmates and friends. I have found a beautiful support system. In
addition my definition of "success" has become more vigorous. Because of HIV I know I have no limits.
In
2007, I decided to disclose my HIV status with my main motivation to help young
people to realize that HIV has no boundary this is due to being infected from
my very early aged. I personally believe that Young people will change their
attitudes and behaviour in ways that reduce vulnerability if they are well
informed of HIV risks and prevention strategies. I started work at Fiji Network for People
living with HIV (FJN+) in 2009 with my role is facilitate advocacy and education
programmes of the organization. In my terms with FJN+, we received high demand
from youth communities to conduct awareness and trained them to be gate keepers
to other young peoples through Stepping Stone skills and Life skill training.
I
have been an active member for SENPEF
(Support Empowerment Network for Peer Educators in Fiji) where we not only
raise awareness about young people’s issues but renew there pledges to ensure
universal access, human rights and individual responsibilities are realized and
given the attention it deserved.
Fiji
has a cumulative figure of 366 HIV positive cases (from 1989 to 31st
December 2010. Statistics shows that 20-29 year age group as the most affected
with 44% of all HIV cases. For the broader productive age group of 20 -49
years, the percentage is 85% for last year.
What
motivates me is that young people have to take concrete joint actions to
address the disease head-on and rise to the challenge and the need to increase
their knowledge on HIV/AIDS such as the way the HIV virus is spread, how to
protect oneself against becoming infected and treatments available for the
infected.
Adjust
their attitude by spreading the correct information in their immediate circle
of influence such as friends and family members and lastly embrace compassion
and acceptance towards people living with HIV.
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