Happy new year!!!!

Okay, totally inappropriate title up there. Only used it cuz it's been a long while since we last met here. No?

Well, alot has gone on here and there. But the highlight is an activity that took place at the bank premises last week on Wednesday and Thursday.

We had an awareness talk here at the bank. We had a guest speaker from ActionAid. Her name is Beatrice Were. It was the most amazing talk I've had/heard. And I've had/heard many. I love my job. Our HR dept provides such talks. This particular VC&T/T is the in-theme this year. We've had/heard about 5 so far.

Beatrice Were is HIV+ and has been so so the last 15years. She contracted the virus when she was on campus. She said, her life literally stopped when she got that bomb. Her husband died soon after they realised they were positive. Her father was there for her throughout the whole time and so was the rest of the family.
But she told us that during that time, everything that mattered to her, ceased to matter. She just sat back and awaited her death wih such eagerness that she paved way for it. Then after about 8 years;alive not seeming to die; she woke up and decided she wasn't gonna die afterall. So she went ahead a followed the dreams she'd cast by the wayside.

She went to school, completed her PHd and is pursuing her 2nd one by correspondence with a top UK university.

She met another HIV+ dude and fell in love. Together, they have a daughter. And 2 others from her previous marriage.
Beatrice looks absolutely great. Greater than u and me. Cuz she accepted he condition and decided to live through it. And with it.

From Beatrice' talk, we learnt not to die within after we got such bad news. It's managable if we really wanted to get on with our life. It is.
Her talk also revealed a bizzarre truth. The most recent studies show that HIV prevalence was rampant among marrieds. And that women seemed to be the most vulnerable one because they seemed to trust their husbands wholly. Because of this, they ignore the routine tests and go on to infect each other. It's scary!

Then on Thursday, we got the VC&T/T(Voluntary Councelling and Testing/ Training) team down. The whole day was spent taking AIDS tests and awaiting the results.
This was a test even on the safest person. You never know where u'll get the virus from. Earlier, Beatrice had told us she knew of people that contracted it from salons that used un sterilized gadgets and nails clippers. This scared us so much, seeing as I never leave the salon.

We took our tests, got free soda, chocolate, splash and candies. This was the highlight of the VC&T/T. We got lots to eat.

The real test came when we had to go back 30mins later to recieve our results. The suspense in there is nail biting. My heart wnet on rampage during this wait. My results;though came out as expected. NEGATIVE! But with the complimentary tummy churning and sweating that comes with so much anxiety.

It was worth though at the end of the day. So much.

According to the training we got......it's better to know your status. So u can seek relevant help from trained specialists.

And how was yo long weekend?