The first focus
group largely addressed how participants took their medication privately, how
they hid their medications and who they were able to trust at their
school. All the participants had told at
least someone in their family about their status. One participant had disclosed
his status to his girlfriend after having attended a support group on
disclosure hosted by WE-ACTx. A few told
a “school representative” which included either a teacher, school matron or
headmaster/headmistress.
When asked
about the challenges that participants faced when hiding their status, they
began describing the difficulties of needing to take their medication in
private. Many of the participants had
revealed their HIV status to at least one school representative who helped them
to take their ARVs each day. One
participant would tell her classmates that her parents were worried about her
and that she needed to talk to them on the phone (in the headmaster’s office)
each day. Because students in boarding
school are banned from using their cell phones, they are only allowed to make
calls in the presence school representatives.
Another participant would tell his classmates that the headmaster was
calling him into his office each morning and evening to deliver a bottle of
water. He would bring his headmaster a
bottle of water and then use that bottle to take his medications in his office. While he was doing this, other HIV positive students
would also be in there taking their medications. This would become a time when his classmates
and him would get to know each other, but they never discussed their HIV status
even though they knew that they were each positive.
