Hope in the Brain, Not Dope in the Veins

A True Story

by Thuita J. Maina

on May 27, 2019

Picture related to the title of the story — *Image from Leila Grandemange.*

Even though the weather was pleasantly clear here in Kiserian, I woke up feeling rather hopeless because God hasn't been answering my most important prayers. The hopelessness lingered, following me on my morning walk to Kiserian Town.

And today wasn't the first time I felt that hopeless. I've had similar feelings before. In April 2008, for instance, despair overcame me when three American colleges I had applied to turned me down.

Several months later when I went astray at JKUAT, I also felt hopeless when the university was closed one day following a students' strike. And I now realize it was because I didn't want to go home.

When that familiar feeling of hopelessness washed over me today morning, I remembered Rev. Jesse Jackson's famous words in his 1988 DNC speech: 'Keep hope alive!'

Four years before, he had delivered another powerful DNC speech in which he challenged the youth to put hope in their brains and not dope in their veins. I'll heed that advice, and the one he gave in 1988 as well – 'Keep hope alive!'

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Also check out "Expecting Good Things".

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HIV: The Test I Didn't Fear

A True Story

by Thuita J. Maina

on May 24, 2019

One sunny afternoon in 2017, I went for HIV test at a VCT centre not far from where I live. It's not that I had "misbehaved" or something; I just thought it'd make for a great blog story. Will it? Let's see.

I left home a happy man and reached the VCT centre still a happy man. Clean and quiet, the centre looked more like a school, what with the imposing buildings I saw on the compound. I didn't see any students, though.

The counsellor who attended to me was a warm and friendly man. He asked me to take a seat next to his desk, where two chairs faced each other. I sat on one; the other, which I later learnt was for the partner, remained empty.

Before testing me, he asked me a few questions but I only remember two. The first was whether I had slept with a woman. When I said "no", he asked me in Sheng, "You mean you've never slept with a woman?"

I again said "no" but confessed to viewing adult content on the internet. He didn't make a big deal out of that, perhaps because he knew how we men are. His other question I remember was what I'd do if I found out I had HIV.

"That'll be deadly!" I blurted out.

When I answered the few questions he asked me to his satisfaction, he pricked my finger to draw out blood. He then put the blood on a paper strip where one or two red lines would appear, revealing whether I was HIV-negative or -positive.

A few minutes later, one red line appeared with the magical suddenness of a rainbow. The VCT counsellor told me I was HIV-negative, and before I left, he urged me to bring my future partner for testing. I will.

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Also check out "The HIV Scare of the '90s".
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