HIV JOURNEY:DOREEN MORAA MORACHA’S STORY

Her throwback picture before Miracles came after medical attention

Her current state of well-being after treatment

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CHASING MIRACLES, FINDING HOPE: DOREEN MORAA MORACHA’S HARROWING JOURNEY FROM FALSE CURES TO GLOBAL ADVOCACY

By Health Correspondent

In a moving revelation that underscores the desperate search for healing, celebrated HIV advocate Doreen Moraa Moracha aka Jewel Candy on her Facebook timeline and posts, has opened up about her near-fatal brush with false hope.

Her story is a stark reminder of the realities faced by People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and the dangerous allure of unverified "miracle" cures.

Doreen speaks frequently and passionately about HIV cure, a topic she describes as being "very close" to her lived experience.

She belongs to a generation born with the virus in an era devoid of life-saving Anti-Retroviral (ARV) interventions.

Diagnosed at the tender age of eight, her childhood was marked by a lack of medical options.

She recalls how her parents, desperate to save their child, went into a "rabbit hole of concoctions" because there was nothing else available to manage the virus.

This, she notes, was the grim reality for many living with the virus who were diagnosed in the 1990s and early 2000s.

By 2011, having just completed high school, Doreen reached a breaking point.

Although she had been on Anti-Retroviral Treatment for six years, treatment fatigue set in.

"I got tired and wanted to be HIV negative, so I went down the rabbit hole for a cure," she admits.

It was during this vulnerable moment that the media spotlight turned to a controversial figure in Tanzania known as Babu wa Loliondo.

Babu, a polarizing herbalist, claimed to possess the ability to cure all ailments with a single cup of herbal medicine.

"It was as if the universe was listening," Doreen reflects on the timing of Babu’s rise to fame.

Convinced that this was her way out, she persuaded her mother to undertake the journey across the border.

Her mother, who bore the financial burden of the expenses, agreed to the trip.

Together, they traveled to Tanzania to drink the herbal medication.

They returned home firmly believing they were finally free of the virus.

"We came back home believing we were 'cured'. We even stopped taking ARVs," she reveals.

For two years, Doreen lived in a state of denial, completely off her medication.

However, the reality of the virus soon caught up with her physically.

The only thing that forced her back into medical care was the onset of severe opportunistic infections.

She developed herpes zoster and Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP), conditions that signaled her immune system was failing.

Looking back at photos from that time, she notes that the aftermath of her "treatment holiday" was physically devastating.

Today, she remains on care, marking 20 years on ARVs.

She acknowledges the difficult truth that "we still don’t have a cure yet."

However, her message has shifted from desperation to educated hope.

She points out that HIV cure research is very much ongoing and making strides.

"9 people have been cured of HIV so far," she states, emphasizing what this statistic implies.

For the community of PLHIV, this progress signifies that there is legitimate hope.

Doreen now champions the involvement of communities of people living with HIV in scientific research.

She insists that patients must be aware of what cure strategies currently exist.

Ultimately, she believes it is the duty of survivors to educate others on what a true HIV cure means to them, ensuring no one else falls victim to false promises.