Black people, particularly black women, are disproportionately impacted by HIV, with 34% of new diagnoses occurring among us. The HIV Commission reports that black women are almost twice as likely as black men to be living with HIV, at a rate of 51 per 1000 versus 26 per 1000.

Angelina Namiba has over 25 years of expertise in the HIV sector and is a founding member of the 4M Network of Mentor Mothers. Angelina’s journey began in 1993, when she received an HIV diagnosis at a time when the effective anti-HIV medication we now have was not yet available, leaving some people with a six-month prognosis.

Immersed in a culture plagued by stigma and discrimination, she took up a job to keep herself busy whilst awaiting what she believed to be her imminent demise. Little did she know that this decision, coupled with the support of a fellow African woman living with HIV, would ignite a flame of purpose.