For several years, the Reverend Maxwell Kapachawo has been theonly religious leader in Zimbabwe to openly speak about his HIV status, AllAfrica reports. If others would disclose their status, he said, “things wouldstart to change.” After testing positive in 2004, Kapachawo was dismissed fromhis Anglican ministry and spent two years fighting opportunistic infections.After recovering and joining a network of religious leaders living with oraffected by HIV, he started a network in Zimbabwe and returned to Christian ministrywork. Kapachawo is now speaking out and hoping that other religious leaders willjoin him and help fight stigma and discrimination.

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