During 2002, HIV turned Ishmael into a weak,
bedridden man. "I am a peer in the company, I tell others to be careful and to
go for a test if they think they might be infected. But I just couldn't bring
myself to do the same thing. I was too afraid. Until I had rash all over my
body, lost weight and could no longer walk on my own. Some people told me I had
already died." |