环球英语 1326 HIV and Women: Gracia Violeta

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Hello and welcome to Spotlight. I'm Mike Procter.

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And I'm Ruby Jones. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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In today's programme we tell the story of a woman from Bolivia. We tell how her own experiences led her to help other people.

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Gracia Violeta. People in her community know the name well. Violeta is a public speaker. She works to improve women's rights in Bolivia. She also works as an adviser on women's health issues and HIV. Violeta has a powerful message. Much of it comes from her personal story.

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Violeta was in her final years of study when she learned the news that changed her life. During a research trip she became very sick. So when she returned home, she had some medical tests. But Violeta was not prepared for the results. One of the tests was for HIV. The result showed that Violeta had the virus. She had HIV. She was very shocked. She explains:

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"I did not know how I got infected. All the messages I received when I was younger said that HIV only affected particular groups of people - sex workers, drug users and men who had sex with men. This was not me."

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Violeta knew that she had to tell her parents. This was very difficult for her. She was part of a strong Christian community. Her father was a well-known minister. And there was so much that her parents did not know - not just about her having HIV. Violeta had also been raped. Two men had forced her to have sex with them. But she had not told her parents. Violeta remembers:

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"I did not have the courage to tell my parents face to face. So I wrote a letter telling them I had HIV. I wrote "no more lies". I told them about the rape. I told them that I was not a virgin - that I had sex with my boyfriend."

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Violeta was surprised by the way her parent's reacted:

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"My parents came to me full of love. My father said, "We do not want details unless you want to tell us. We just want you to know that you are our daughter. And we will love you for days, months, years - however long you are alive we will be with you." My name Gracia means grace. My parents gave me this name because of the grace of God. It is a very nice theory. Grace is what God gives us when we do not deserve it... But it is very difficult to understand how it really works. But my parents came to me full of love. At that moment I saw grace in action."

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Violeta soon learned that at that time, there was little information for people living with HIV. She said:

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"It was very clear that there was a need for a group to unite people with HIV in Bolivia. Because at that time there was only costly treatment and people were dying very often. So we decided to start the Bolivian Network of People Living with HIV."

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The Bolivian Network gives support to people with HIV. It works to get people with HIV the same rights as other people. This group pressured the government to provide antiretroviral drugs, or ARVs. These drugs extend the life of a person with HIV by many years. In 2004, the government finally agreed. And so, Violeta had become an activist. She was particularly concerned about the rights of women with HIV. She said:

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"I became an activist because it was a survival method for us. The voices of women were missing. I never planned to be an activist. I had to do it because we needed treatment."

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Violeta began to connect issues of female equality, violence and HIV. So she decided to do something very difficult - to speak publically about her story.

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"I decided then to speak also about my experiences as a rape survivor because I know there are many women living with the same story. Someone has to break the silence around violence against women. Bolivia has a very male governed culture. It is so difficult to change the thoughts of men and women. Having no power puts women at even greater risk of catching HIV. And men are at risk too. They think they are so powerful that not even HIV would infect them."

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One of the most difficult public speeches she made was to the church where her father was minister. She said:

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"We asked the speaker that day to talk about how Jesus treated a woman that was found doing wrong. Everyone wanted to kill her. But Jesus made her accusers ask themselves if they had never done wrong. And they all left without harming her.

Then, I stood up in front of the whole church - about two hundred [200] people. And I told them that I had been living with HIV for three years. I told them I believed that if I had made any mistakes, God forgave me. I said I needed their support. I recognised that I may bring them shame by saying publicly that I had HIV. But I explained that there was no information in Bolivia about HIV. I explained that without medicine, people were dying. I wanted to help other people with HIV. This could be the work that God wanted me to do."

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Violeta and her family were surprised at the church members' reaction. Violeta said:

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"They said - ‘Will you forgive us?' We did not see your needs. We are not working on the issue of HIV in our church. We - not you - we need to apologise to God."

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And so with the support of her church and family, Violeta continues her work in the Bolivian Network for people Living with HIV. There is still much work to do in Bolivia. But Violeta plans to do as much as she can while she is alive. She says:

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"What keeps me going is the effect of God's love on me. Because I am HIV positive I may die tomorrow. Other persons who are not HIV positive may live longer than me. I cannot control the past or the future. But I can work for today. So I will live each day to the fullest. I will give my best. And I will make my life useful to myself and to others. And maybe I will be able to change history in Bolivia."

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The writer and producer of today's programme was Marina Santee, with special thanks to aid group Strategies for Hope who freely provided material. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. Our programmes are on our website http://www.radio.english.net This .programme is called "HIV and Women: Gracia Violeta."