Duration: 4min  09sec

Transcript

KHOPOTSO: ‘€œI was abstinent all my life before I knew I was HIV positive,’€ says the now 38 year-old Rev. Christo Greyling, a former Dutch Reformed minister, who is now a World Vision advisor for Africa, on HIV/AIDS. World Vision is a Christian development organisation with a focus on children infected and affected by the epidemic.    

REV. CHRISTO GREYLING: I heard I was HIV positive in 1987 while I was still a student in Theological Seminary. That was quite a shock. I, in fact, only found out last year that I got infected in ‘€™84 with an eye operation. I’€™m haemophiliac, which basically means I don’€™t have any clotting in my blood and therefore, when I have internal bleeds in joints or in muscles, I have to infuse myself, intravenously, with a concentrate of other people’€™s blood. And in the early ‘€˜80s times there were no testing yet available and I received some US/American factor during that operation. And it was just unfortunate that I got infected during that time.

KHOPOTSO: Haemophilia, if you can tell us about the condition, how it actually afflicts one, the dangers of not having blood that clots?

REV. CHRISTO GREYLING: Haemophilia is a blue blood disease. They say it comes, originally, from Queen Victoria. I don’€™t know how true that is. But we know that she was the first person who had haemophiliac children, as well as the Czar from Russia’€¦ Haemophilia is a disease, which causes severe pain in joints, as when you twist an ankle and it starts to swell up. In my case it doesn’€™t heal by itself. It just becomes worse and worse. It’€™s extremely painful, but you also might lose the use of joints. At this stage, haemophiliacs are much easier treated now than we were when we were small children. Now it’€™s easy, you just inject yourself with the concentrate of the factor that is absent in my blood and you recover within a day or two. Previously, we had to lie in hospital for a week receiving plasma. And that caused a lot of time away from school, or time away from home, and also caused a lot of damage to the joints.

KHOPOTSO: Is it genetic?

REV. CHRISTO GREYLING: Yes, haemophilia is a genetic disease. It is passed on from the mother to the son. So, daughters don’€™t get to be haemophiliacs. They are the carriers of haemophilia. It’€™s very much similar to colour blindness, which is also transmitted from the women as the carriers to the men as the people who suffer from that.

So, if I would have a daughter my daughter will be a carrier. She will not suffer from haemophilia herself. But her sons will possibly have a 50/50 chance of being haemophiliacs.

KHOPOTSO: How old were you when you discovered that you’€™re HIV positive?

REV. CHRISTO GREYLING: I was young. At that stage I was 23 years old. I was in love. I had a wonderful girlfriend. And so, HIV came as a huge surprise. It came as a shock. It really challenged me to suddenly start to think ‘€˜what now? Who will ever want a Reverend being HIV positive and having AIDS?’€™ At that stage the stigma was even greater than now. And HIV was purely associated with homosexuality, with sex, with promiscuity. And I was really scared that people will not be willing to be near me.

KHOPOTSO: It was six months before his wedding day that Rev. Greyling’€™s doctor told him that he was HIV positive. Panic set in and he immediately wanted to cancel his marriage plans.

REV. CHRISTO GREYLING: My girlfriend at the time was Liesl, and we were dating for about six months. And the big question then was ‘€˜should we continue with this relationship or end it?’€™ I felt I cannot expect her to continue having to be married, possibly, to a person with AIDS; having that stigma around you; never being able to have children; I will become ill and she’€™ll have to care for me; and she’€™ll be a widow within a few years. So, I just felt, ‘€˜stop it.’€™ She said, ‘€˜no I loved you before you became HIV positive and the fact that you’€™ve got a virus does not change the love I have for you. So, I’€™m gonna marry you, anyway.’€™ So, I’€™m thankful for that. After 16 years we are still together and she’€™s still negative, which proves to you it can be done. HIV is preventable. We got married six months later, in April 1988.

KHOPOTSO: In the next Living with AIDS feature, Reverend Christo Greyling talks about life with HIV, how it affects his wife and their relationship.  

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