Thandi Xaba, "If you feel good about life it helps you stay healthy"

Thandi Xaba, 23, an aspiring actress living with HIV, belongs to an itinerant theatrical group in Swaziland who perform plays dealing with HIV/AIDS, often spiced with humour to engage the rural audience who sit beneath trees to watch the shows.



"In our story [the play] a family farm is on the border [between South Africa and Swaziland], and when they put up a border fence the family is cut in two; the whole community is split this way.



"It gets serious when some community members get HIV and there is a shortage of ARVs [antiretrovirals] on the Swazi side, so they try to go to their neighbours on the South African side.



"Then the flow of people is reversed when there are food packages delivered on the Swazi side that are needed by people who are taking ARVs, because you have to be well-nourished for the drugs to work.



"I know this because I am HIV-positive, so I identify with the people in the story. When I am acting and showing the emotions of fright or anxiety I am just replaying what I experienced myself when I learned from the test that I was HIV, and worried how people would react.



"But I am more fortunate than most. I am educated and I know how to read instructions and understand the literature - I can explain things to others.



"What is really giving me a positive spirit is that I am doing what I want to do. If you feel good about life and you are optimistic, this helps you stay healthy.



"I really like acting - I don't get paid, we have to provide our own costumes - but it is a way for me to perform in front of people. I am learning, and one day I will go to Jo'burg and audition for real theatrical productions, where they have stage lights and make-up. Now our stage lights are the car and truck headlamps, or candles if the wind isn't blowing.



"People understand about AIDS from our shows. They see stories about real people and they relate; they laugh and applaud, and that is rewarding."



jh/kn/he