Mavasa, deputy chairperson of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), will be one of the keynote speakers at the opening plenary of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS. This is despite earlier objections by the health department to the TAC being accredited at attend the high profile meeting.

Speaking on the eve of her first trip overseas, 27-year-old Mavasa said she would talk about the need to accelerate access to treatment, how the human resources crisis in the health sector is affecting people living with HIV and stigma.

Stigma is something Mavasa has experienced first-hand. Last year, her policeman father ordered her to leave the house when she told her family that she was HIV positive and has refused to speak to her or see her since. ‘€œI have tried to speak to him and tried to phone him once, but he just slammed the phone down in my ear,’€ says Mavasa.

But this has not stopped the Tzaneen woman from challenging patriarchal practices in her community. ‘€œIn Limpopo, our villages are dominated by people believing in culture. There are duties for men and duties for women. Men are the head of the household. Women are not allowed to wear pants, talk in meetings or work (in the formal sector). They have to cook, bear children, collect firewood and grow crops,’€ says Mavasa.

Despite opposition from the older men, Mavasa has challenged all these beliefs ‘€“ whether it is wearing pants or standing up at the male-dominated imbizos to speak her mind, especially around the issue of rape.

‘€œYou know, when you are raped and you go to report it to the police, they will tell you that you don’€™t report such things here. That you must go and speak to your family.’€

TAC General Secretary Sipho Mthathi describes Mavasa’€™s life as ‘€œa great story of brevity and exemplary leadership, fighting patriarchy in a community where women still have to kneel when they bring food to men’€.

Mavasa confirms that many women are still expected to go on their knees when serving food to men. ‘€œWhen you, as a young person, meet an older man, you must go on your knees to greet them without looking them in the eye,’€ she adds.

The eldest of five children, Mavasa has been involved in organisations from an early age. The first organisation she joined was the Girl Guides. She later got involved in community upliftment projects, training as a Tsonga tour guide, participating in a leadership school and studying business management. ‘€œI can’€™t sit still,’€ she giggles.

Mavasa joined the TAC in 2004 before she knew she was HIV positive. ‘€œAt that time, I didn’€™t know much, but grew more interested as I read more.’€

Mavasa says that one of the reasons why she decided to join the TAC was try to understand the claims that those living with HIV had been bewitched: ‘€œI felt I needed to know more because I thought that perhaps it could be true.’€

IVHIV

While teaching HIV/AIDS literacy at schools, churches and women’€™s groups, Mavasa felt increasing pressure to determine her own HIV status.

‘€œMany people would ask me whether I was HIV positive because my T-shirt said so. Sometimes I lied and said I was because I felt it was wrong for me to be preaching VCT (voluntary counseling and testing) while I did not know my own status,’€ she explains.

Last year, Mavasa tried on several occasions to have an HIV test, but turned around every time because the queues were too long.

‘€œOne day I just went and decided I was going to stay no matter how long it took. Ten minutes after taking the test, the nurse called me in and told me I was positive.

‘€œI could not believe it. A week later I went to another clinic for a second test and the results were the same. I was still in denial, not believing what I was being told. After two days I went to the third clinic. Here I also asked for an HIV test as if I didn’t know my status. Again the results were positive. It was so hard for me to accept I was HIV-positive, I just couldn’t take it. My boyfriend supported me a lot and after a few weeks he also went for a test.’€

Has knowing her status changed her? ‘€œBefore I knew, I used to panic if I had a headache and I would wonder if I was HIV positive. Now that I know my status I don’€™t worry about these things. I no longer associate HIV with feeling sick or being cursed or bewitched. When I disclosed, it felt as if something heavy lifted. I felt free. Now I feel free no matter what people say.’€

Mavasa is a ‘€œlittle scared’€ of the prospect of going overseas for the first time: ‘€œI don’€™t know how things are going to be, but I look forward to it.’€