62-year-old Dorothy is from Durban in South Africa. She lives with HIV and is cared for at home by her family. She can’t walk very far and spends a lot of her time in bed.

Dorothy's two daughters passed away from AIDS-related illnesses in 2004. She was their full-time carer and believes that she may have caught the virus while caring for them.

Lack of understanding about HIV

Dorothy says she did not have enough understanding about HIV and how to protect herself from infection.

“Two years after my daughters passed away I became ill. The process of finding out I was HIV-positive was very long. When my glands became swollen and I started to get chest pains I went to the doctor. I thought I had tuberculosis, but was told that I did not.

“I still felt tired so my daughter-in-law suggested I go to the voluntary counselling and testing clinic for a test.”

Dorothy was shocked when the results showed she was HIV positive.

A young person's illness

“I was living with my unmarried son at the time. He couldn’t cope with my illness and was in denial. Because of my age, he was sure that the clinic had made a mistake. He thought HIV and AIDS was a young person’s illness.”

Dorothy moved in with her married son and his family. She was very ill when she first arrived. “My son works for a doctor’s surgery so luckily he was able to get me free medicine.”

Dorothy takes a booster dose of vitamins and minerals. She also takes herbal medicine that she buys from a traditional healer.

Older people as peer educators

Dorothy's daughter-in-law works for Muthande Society for the Aged (MUSA) and has been trained in providing home-based care.

She is Dorothy’s main carer along with her daughter. MUSA provides a range of services for 3,000 older people affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic. These include home-based care, awareness-raising and training traditional healers.

The organisation has also trained 250 older peer educators and counsellors to raise awareness about HIV among older people and their families.

Pension helps buy food and medicine

Dorothy relies on her family to take care of her, but she is able to support herself financially because she receives a non-contributory pension. She uses this to buy her own herbal medicine and nutritious food.

Dorothy accepts that she has to live with HIV. “I would love it if there was a cure but there isn’t. It is there and I can’t do anything about it.”