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FOR some Muslims in Zimbabwe, having HIV can be a huge challenge.
But, the same cannot be said about Sheikh Abdullah Chiponda, who came out publicly in his church, about his HIV status.
Not only did Chiponda defy societal perception of HIV, he also challenged the notion that men of cloth are not affected by this virus.
At 21, after just finishing his pastoral course at the main Muslim Church in Waterfalls, Chiponda got married.
However, the marriage did not last long as it ended after just two years.
“When the marriage collapsed, it affected me so badly because it was something that I never looked forward to,” he said.
“To subdue the pain I started enjoying life, which the young ones now refer to as ‘Kujola’.
“There is nothing that you can tell me concerning ‘kujola’ even though I am a pastor, I went everywhere I thought was the place to be at that time, I started drinking and smoking.”
Chiponda recalls the first time he was tested for HIV.
“Until 2007, I was staying in Shurugwi at that time, so there came this team conducting voluntary testing and counselling.
“I just said to myself, let me go get tested.
“My results came out and I was HIV positive, at that time it didn’t affect me but when I got home alone that’s when I started thinking.
“I said since I am already HIV positive, let me continue with the kind of lifestyle that I was living.
“I became wild, careless and negligent.”
Chiponda went for six years without taking medication and, in 2013, he started feeling sick.
“The first thing that came to my mind was that someone was bewitching me because I had already forgotten about what had happened in the past.
“I would go to the surgery unable to walk but once the injections were administered I would be fit as a fiddle but it was only a temporary solution.”
Noticing that his health was deteriorating, Chiponda’s brothers convinced him to move from Bulawayo to Shurugwi so that they could take care of him.
“II went to the hospital with my wife and we got tested, in that moment when the results came, I pretended to be shocked as if I didn’t know that I was HIV positive already.
“My wife comforted me and told me everything was okay, she also tested positive but we later divorced, it was not because of our health issues but rather something else.”
Now living in Mutorashanga, Chiponda says he often talks about his HIV status in his church as a way to educate people about the virus.
“I like speaking about my personal journey as a person living with HIV/AIDS while I am also a man of cloth,” he said.
“What drove me to speak about my journey publicly was that I figured out that as church leaders/pastors we tend to abuse the pulpit especially when it comes to stigma and discrimination.
“A lot of times we make it seem as if we are holier than everybody else, the untouchables especially when we are talking about HIV/AIDS.
“I am not saying everyone who comes to church should come out about living with HIV but I am saying the church should be a safe space for everyone,” he said.
Chiponda said HIV healing starts when one accepts that they found themselves in such a situation.
“I urge people who are HIV positive to take their medication during prescribed times without defaulting even when they feel they are now healthy and fit,” he said.
“As a Muslim, and being in the community, we are sort of conservative, when I told people that I was HIV positive there was an awkward silence you could tell that people had something to say but because it was coming from a church leader, they couldn’t say anything.”
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter