Learning to deal with duty
YOU can blame my pre-menopause or the fact that I am getting old for my behaviour but that is not the case.
I was telling a sister that I was disappointed with a certain incident.
She advised me to address the issue with those who had contributed to my disappointment and leave her out.
She refused to hear the details of the incident but instead advised me to pray about it.
I was rather disappointed with her.! Now get me right. My disappointment was that my sister told me to pray for the things that we could easily discuss.
I often have challenges with people who neglect duty and refer everything to prayer.
Prayer does work and as I told my sister it does not replace duty. For instance, if you visit me when I am not well and cannot even wash myself, you advise me to pray.
What if I have been praying and you are the answer to my prayer but you still encourage me to continue to do something that does not leave me bathed and clean!
I could be touching some nerves. Please be calm and read through what I have to say.
You do not have to agree with what I have to say. The least that you can do before you criticise me is to go through the article.
I was in a meeting and I was following the proceedings like a well assigned employee who had been entrusted to attend by her boss.
Since there is always a report to write regarding all the meetings that one attends, it is important to be attentive and able to give a detailed account.
I always aim to make the best of every meeting, seminar or conference that I attend. I also make it a policy to learn something from every interaction that I have.
The lesson learnt can be anything.
I have gone to some seminars and as I sat in the conference I notice there are some colours that should not be worn together!
Although this does not have anything to do with the seminar at hand, I will know what to do if I have the colours that I have observed to be like oil and water!
When I started to train to become a trainer, there were these two ladies that left positive imprints on my life.
I will mention them here; I have no idea where they are now. Mrs Magreth Butau and Mrs Sibonginkosi Mushapaidze.
They were good in training others to take up the duty at hand. The two would always say when going to train avoid wearing anything that attracts attention.
This could mean being overdressed or dressed so minimally that people fail to follow what you are saying as they try to imagine what should have been left out or added to the clothes that you have!
Back to the meeting. There was a discussion regarding how some people who at some time tested HIV positive would come and start telling the service provider that they status had changed and they were now HIV negative.
The HIV within their body is well suppressed and their immune system was highly functional.
What then happens is that the service providers will try to explain the process but one would remain adamant insisting that they had been cured.
Sadly, these people who make such claims are not illiterate. They are educated and should be able to understand what is taking place within their bodies.
What is also important to note is that when one is initiated on ARVs, they are engaged in a counselling session and where it is explained how they work and also that once HIV positive, one is HIV positive for the rest of their life.
ARVs are under the component of treatment and care. There is nothing that is said of being cured. There are support groups that are there to encourage people living with HIV but some people opt not to be part of these important groups, opting to walk the journey as a sole traveller.
It is the sole travellers that the wolves in this world carefully pounce on.
How many of us have watched the films on
wildlife where we have seen the lions pouncing on animals that are isolated compared to those that move in groups?
There is power in numbers. Support groups provide the required power to cope.
The wolves that I am referring to in terms of HIV positive people are those who convince people to stop taking their ARVs.
One group convinces them that through prayer, they can become cured and after a series of prayers ask them to go for an HIV test.
There is nothing wrong with praying but to stop taking medication that one was initiated on is highly irresponsible. Prayer should not replace what a person can do for themselves.
The second group of wolves are those who have `realised the power of herbs` and are making it their key result area to get people off ARVs to initiate them on herbs some of whose doses have never been properly researched.
Some “herbalists” insist that one should have a running stomach as a way to detox.
The diarrhoea can leave one weak and severely dehydrated, making them prone to other infections.
Lately I have heard of incidents of individuals who have died after they defaulted taking their ARVs. Those who did not die struggled to get on the path of good health again. Take care of your health at all times. Understand the duty that you have to take care of your health, you being in the fore front.