Tendayi Westerhof Opens Up On Living With HIV For 19 Years
Tendayi Westerhof, a former model who has been living with HIV for 19 years, celebrated her 55th birthday on 22 June.
She is the former wife of former Warriors coach Clemens Westerhof. Their marriage ended in a much-publicised divorce in 2002.
Speaking in a recent interview with The Herald, Tendayi said she discovered she was HIV positive when she was 35 and had been married to the Dutchman for two years. She said:
The world around me crumbled, I had to deal with my status and denial. I did not know what my future held. I was also afraid of being alone.
She said she kept her status a secret even from her family for almost one year. Said Westerhof:
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I later found out information about the disease. This is the first time I knew we had HIV service providers available in Zimbabwe.
I went to one of them to ask about HIV and each time I had to disclose my HIV status. I wanted to know if I could live.
… I knew a few public hospitals were dispensing them. I was put on treatment and was getting from the private sector where I had to buy. It was expensive at that time.
Westerhof also battled stigma and this affected her as well as her children after she publicly disclosed her HIV status. She said:
My children were affected by my disclosure. Sometimes they would be mocked at school and in the community.
Some said ‘those are Tendayi’s kids, the crazy woman who disclosed her status on television.
People who have HIV do not publicly disclose their status. Most thought I had an ulterior motive and an agenda.
They thought I disclosed my status because my marriage was breaking up. I was labelled as a gold digger, a person who was after donor money.
Westerhof, who is the National Aids Council (NAC) board member representing persons living with HIV, also gave birth to a baby after her HIV diagnosis.
She said she was empowered by the elimination of mother to child transmission programme in Zimbabwe, which she accessed for free even to those going through private hospitals.
Westerhof gave birth through Caesarean section and says she took all the precautions.
At 18 months her child was tested and was negative. At 18 years, the child also got tested again.
Westerhof said her body has been disfigured, the side effects of ART have not spared her, emphasising this will not make her stop treatment.
