Rosalia's Letter

This past Wednesday at Lea Toto, we had a 'Teens Day', where all the HIV+ teens in our program came together to learn about drug adherence, teen issues, and were also able to socialise with others sharing the same experience as them. Rosalia was brave enough to share this letter with the group, and it sets her far beyond her years. She gave me the 'okay' to share it with you!

Presenter: Rosalia (Form IV Candidate at State House Girls)

Greetings to doctors and staff of Lea-Toto and my fellow teenagers. It is a privilege for me to stand before all of you today in an effort to touch at least one person’s life.

As we all know, we are living with a virus in us. The first thing we should do about this is to accept it. The truth remains that there are things that are beyond us and that we can’t change them. The best we can do is accept God’s will to be done in our lives. God does everything for a reason and his reason is never negative. We should always know that God has a plan for us. There is a reason why we are bearing that virus and the worse we could do is deny it. Always remember that every person has their own cross to bear, ours is this tiny, stubborn virus. Once you accept that you can do less about it, all will be fine. With God on our side and with our hearts willing to accept our cross, we will surely go places!

After accepting, it is important that we do something about it. We are extremely blessed to be receiving medication for free. God shows us his endless love every month when we come here and go home with enough drugs. It is important to remember that not everyone is able to get enough medication like we do. It is just a grace from God and we should all say a big ‘Thanks’ to God the almighty. We should therefore ensure that we all take our prescribed drugs without failure, because that is a way of showing gratitude to God.

By refusing to take drugs for any reason whatsoever, we are just hurting ourselves and tormenting our bodies for no reason. Refusing to take drugs is just the same as slapping God on the face. It is like telling God that we are tired of receiving his graces. Is it really right to throw back to God what he has given us for free? Please, let us not do that to our heavenly father who gives us these drugs with a lot of L O V E!

Away from drugs and now to studies. We should all keep in mind that the world today requires only learned people. Nowadays, your face, your body, your cash, your beauty, and your fashion cannot take you anywhere. The only thing that can take you where you want is education. With good papers, there is nowhere that you cannot go. There is no one who can stop you from pursuing the career of your choice, so long as your grades are satisfactory. I strongly believe that no one of us has heard of anyone who was stopped from doing Medicine, Engineering, or Law just because they didn’t have a figure-8, six-pack, or nice clothes. Your papers will always speak for you.

It is quite normal for some of us to doubt our abilities compared to other people, at some point. There was a time in school, when some exam papers for a certain subject were returned and I emerged number 2. At that point, my heart justified itself by saying, “It’s okay, how can I be the first one and yet I have this virus in me?”. Just then a voice talked in me and condemned me harshly for that statement. The voice reminded me that the virus inside of me does not stop me from shining; it does not stop me from being the best. The same applies to all of you; the virus inside you does not make you less able that the rest. What they can do, you can do even better.

Another fact is that, the sun will never stop shining because some teenager somewhere has a virus inside him or her. The world will never stop developing because some teen somewhere is HIV+. The cutpoint for the university will never go low because some student in a certain school takes ARV’s. The requirement for a certain job will never ever be changed just because one of the applicants has HIV. The constitution will not be changed because of you and me.

This calls for extra strength and power from us. We are expected to work harder in everything that we do, in order to reach the same standards as our fellow teenagers. We should not expect the world to treat us more fairly than others just because we are living positively. In our studies, let us work extra hard and for sure, God will reward us.

The greatest thing is to always put God first. He created all of us and has a plan for us. Let us not forget God’s word; the bible which speaks to us every time we read it. I would like to believe each one of us has a bible because that’s the only way through which we can listen to God’s very own words. Worship him and remember him in everything you do. Most of all obey his will because he tells us that obedience is far much better than sacrifice.

Last but not least, this short prayer should always keep us going:

Dear God,

Give me the strength to change the things that I can change,

Humility to accept the things I cannot change,

And the wisdom to distinguish the two.

AMEN.



God bless us all!

Isn't this inspiring, especially when coming from a 15 year old? My favorite part is 'Refusing to take drugs is just the same as slapping God on the face'. She is so wonderful, simply put.