ABSTRACT
I first got sick in 1988, and soon thereafter in 1990 my husband died. In October of 19901 decided to enroll in a counselor-training course to become a HIV/AIDS counseling aide with IDAAC [Integrated Development Activities and AIDS Concern] in Iganga town. At the same time I was consulting with the LC [Local Council] leaders as to whether they would allow me to start my work by sensitizing the Buwolomera village community about HIV/AIDS, which they happily agreed to. But at that time in the early 1990s there was a still a significant degree of stigma and shame in our village area. In the beginning it was so difficult because for every person I attempted to talk to or when I called at their home, the other members of our community would think that the person to whom I was talking must also be HIV positive since I was the first person in my village to declare openly that I had tested positive for the virus.
