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The transport system is a hotbed for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases

Catherine Murombedzi HIV Walk
HOW many people are comfortable talking of their sexual pasts? And if one is comfortable to talk of the past can one reveal the number of partners one has taken to bed. This cuts across the gender divide, be it men or women. It is usual that for a female when asked how many people one has bedded the figure is revised downwards. For some men who look at it with the macho lenses, it can be given out as a correct estimate or even boosted with an upward variation.
I talked to one conductor sometime early this year when I boarded a kombi from Hatfield into town.

I waited until we reached the rank in town where I told the conductor that I wanted to talk to him about his health. Surprisingly, he was willing to engage in the discussion and this is how it went.

“Son, have you ever taken an HIV test?” I asked the young man. He replied that he did not need to take an HIV test, he had lived in the fast lane for the past seven years hence there was no need to take the test.

“Momz there is no need for that, ukatsvaga makudo mugomo unoawana. I have lived in the fast lane for seven years I have worked as a conductor.

“I have bedded school girls, single women and even married women in return for some favours. I have had unprotected sex when I have ‘seen’ that ‘simbi yakabatana’,” he said.

The youthful guy who said he was 23 had been on the road since he was 17 and had not done well in his Ordinary Level examinations.
“My father wanted to send me back to school but I was not willing, so I got a job as a conductor when I was 17.

“That was in 2007 and the economy played haywire on many people that kombi crews became the rulers of the road. I was one such ruler and with schoolgirls hungry and intending to save the little they had for bus fare to buy lunch, I played the game with them.

“We would even use the back seat as a bedroom when we parked at the bus terminus,” said the conductor. The conductor later said that his name was Peter and was born and bred in Mufakose.

“I was born in Mufakose and did all my schooling there.
“I am a city boy so at 17 I was working as the economic meltdown took its toll, I was bedding any school girl I wanted.
“I have on many occasions been treated for sexually transmitted diseases and the last time was quite bad, the nurse was pissed off since she recognised me as a repeat patient so I had to change clinics.

“Since then I have not had unprotected sex,” said Peter.
Peter said that he suspected that he was HIV positive since three of the young girls he had bedded had died in the past two years.
“That I am HIV positive does not need a test to confirm momz, three of the girls from my hood who I went to bed with have since joined their ancestors. Everyone who works from this rank keeps telling me that I am shrinking ‘kupera sesipo momz’ but who are they to worry about me. I have since stopped and am now born again,” said Peter.

I told Peter that it was good that he was now born again and that the good Lord accepted everyone, warts and all, but the fact remained that he had to know his HIV status. Peter was in denial despite the fact that he had not taken an HIV test. He pointed out that he was now attending one of the popular pentecostal churches and had received his healing. I told him that if he was HIV positive then he needed to first get tested.

HIV testing is the entry to accessing medication and if he does not get tested there is no way he will get anti-retroviral medication.
“Momz haven’t I told you that I am now born again, I have received my healing and it was said so by the prophet that I am healed by my faith.

“So there is no need for the tests you are talking about, I am fine,” said Peter telling me that he now wanted to rest before the next trip.
I told Peter where to find me if he needed further help. In less than two months I found a note with his contact number at the reception at my workplace. Peter stated that he had collapsed at work and had been rushed to hospital. He took an HIV test and it confirmed what he had brushed aside for years.

He said that he was now feeling much better and had commenced ART and needed help since he now had found someone he intended to settle down with. He did not know how to tell his new friend of his HIV status and feared that revealing too much of his past would jeopardise his relationship.

That Peter was in a sexual network is not in question.
He does not even remember how many women he went to bed with. He knows that three of them died of Aids-related illnesses and all this is too much to tell someone whom he intends to spend the rest of his life with. I have since met Peter and had a good discussion with him. I pointed out that if he intended to settle with the woman he had to tell her and she would make an informed decision.

He needed to take his medication and did not need to play hide and seek when taking his medication so the partner had to know. I told him that it would complicate issues if the woman was to hear of his wayward past from a third party as this would destroy the relationship. Since he was a player and was well known in his neighbourhood he was best placed to talk of his past. He had to and was the best person to do so.

If a third party approached the would-be wife she was in a position to say that she is making an informed decision because she already knew. I also pointed out that even though he was bad news, who knows the new lover could also have had a lover or two and had a story to tell too.

For Peter he had to be sure of himself that he had got promiscuity out of his system because his insatiable sexual appetite if left unchecked would ruin his new relationship.

Peter said that he was never in love with any of the women but rather blamed it on lust.
Peter seemed to be a better person, his past could have made him the person I saw during our second meeting.
He gained confidence and went back to his would-be bride and phoned chuckling saying he could have screwed up his past, but the advice he got to tell his partner of his dirty past worked well.

She accepted him as he was.
“Momz zvakabhadhara kungodiwa ndakadaro, ((Mother it worked, accepted as I am),” he said.
That opening up, nothing to hide could have made the would-be bride happy to accept him. Peter plans to protect his wife-to-be from harmful deeds and plans to take her for an HIV test in the near future. Not that the results will be a hindrance, nay, but that the two would be in a better position as concerning their sexual live and infection.

If the woman turns out to be HIV negative, they would have to practise safe sex, that means using protection. Peter is on medication and this will suppress his viral load thereby also protecting his partner.

Even if the partner turns out to be HIV positive, safe sex still has to be practised. They would have to stop using protection when they try to conceive. So ARVs are for Peter’s own health as well as protecting the spouse as the suppressed viral load poses a lesser risk to the partner.

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