“I feel like I have this BIG
secret that I can’t tell anyone
because then they’ll treat
me different!”
“I feel like I have been ripped
off. I’m really, really young
and it’s like—I feel like
it's different if you have HIV when
you’re 30 or 40.”
“I was born with HIV, so my
life feels pretty normal. It’s
only weird when I hear my friends
or teachers talking about HIV and
they have all these ideas of what
it is. Most of them are pretty out
there. Sometimes I try to speak
out in class but it's hard. I don’t
say I am positive!”
“I am sick of having to remember
to take all my meds all the time!”
“I love basketball but I don’t
take gym anymore because I don’t
want to have to explain anything
to anyone, like if I get hurt and
start bleeding.”
“I am not originally from Canada.
My parents knew I had a drug problem
but they don’t know I have
HIV. I don’t want to tell them
because of how they think. It’s
not that they would hate me, it’s
just the way my people think. They
think of people dying and having
nothing when you have HIV. I don’t
want to worry them and make them
scared.”
"Even though I have a life-threatening
illness, I still consider myself
lucky from many other children in
the world. I never take my life
for granted."
