Red Pump: What has been your biggest challenge as a woman living with HIV?
Kamaria: My biggest challenge has been dealing with the person who placed me in the situation to contract the virus. I self-reflect often and have recently learned that I have blocked out the emotional state I was in during that time period. Even though I have “journaled” and told my story often, I look back and realize the night that I met the man that I contracted the virus from and the day I was diagnosed. Overcoming that has meant retracing my steps. I recently created a Facebook support page to include seven people that were in my life in the lowest of times. I then took a road trip back to the city and college I lived in, walked the campus, visited the old apartment and ultimately stood in the exact spot where I met the young man for our first “date.” It was in that moment that I heard a quiet voice tell me “You’re safe now.” It was in that moment I realized that I had never felt safe due to other circumstances that occurred with me attending college and being so far from home for the first time. I know that all these years I have spent healing and being transparent so that I could educate others to prevent them from repeating a mistake that will lead them to them living with HIV.
To read the rest of Kamaria’s interview, visit the Red Pump Project.