Morgana traveled to Zimbabwe to photograph Loyce for Ground Media for a series of stories they produced about the impact of The Global Fund.
Loyce is 23 years old and was born with HIV. Before the age of 10, she lost both her parents and her brother. Loyce had a difficult time growing up with HIV and accepting her status: she faced stigma and verbal abuse from some of her relatives, nearly committed suicide and missed school often due to ill health.
Loyce didn’t start receiving treatment until she contracted tuberculosis (TB) when she was 12 years old; during that time Loyce had to manage both TB and HIV treatment for the first time. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria supported her tuberculosis treatment and recovery.
Since 2009, Loyce has been working as a peer counsellor and advocacy officer on issues around treatment, care and support including HIV-related stigma and discrimination for children, adolescents and young people living with HIV; the campaigns she works have been rolled out in schools and communities throughout Zimbabwe. Loyce also works in international HIV youth advocacy.
Loyce thanks the Global Fund for saving her life. Now, with her good health, she can take on life’s challenges, but she asks donors to continue to support the Global Fund as “this will help in saving lives of people like me”.