EVE BURNS
Jokapeci Tuberi Cati is a 42-year-old Fijian who has lived with HIV for two decades.
Cati is the program manager of the Fiji Network for People Living with HIV, an organization that advocates for those infected and affected by HIV in Fiji and the Pacific region.
Her role is to promote meaningful involvement of people living with HIV in national-level HIV prevention programs and policies. She and her organization also offers peer to peer mentorship and works to empower those living with HIV. Saving lives through the perspective of Marshallese living with HIV and being able to live a normal life is paramount to her.
She was in the Marshall Islands with Youth to Youth in Health as part of this year’s World AIDS Day celebration, visiting both Majuro and Ebeye where she talked with numerous students and people in the community about HIV.
During her early 20s Cati found out she was positive for HIV and has been living with it for almost 20 years. She first came out publicly about her HIV status in 2003.
At that time, HIV was fairly new to the region and was viewed as a foreign disease, she said. Those who were HIV positive were branded and subjected to discriminatory behavior. But when Cati disclosed her status publicly the reception she received was overwhelming positive from traditional chiefs, members of the community, faith based organizations, church members, and her family. This initial support emboldened her to stand
up and be what was then the “missing voice” of HIV in Fiji and now in the Pacific.
“I was someone that people thought would be the last to get infected with HIV, according to their perceptions,” she said. “But they were wrong. I got infected through my marriage not through sex work, being promiscuous or other risky activities.”
“A lot of stigma and discrimination is from ignorance,” she said. “People think that HIV is casually transmitted and they could get HIV from touching, sharing, living in the same house, and breathing the same air.”
Cati said more education and awareness on HIV and AIDS, plus personal stories of people living with HIV, does wonders to decrease stigma and discrimination against people who are HIV positive. In addition, it increases the success of campaigns to get people to check their HIV status through testing.
Cati pledged her commitment to stand by HIV positive people here in the RMI with the goal that one day someone will stand up, speak up, show up to make a difference in their community. The World AIDS Day theme for 2019, “communities make the difference,” marks the beginning of change that HIV is no longer a health issue but has become a community issue and communities should take ownership.
Cati is very impressed with how the Ministry of Health and Youth to Youth in Health are working together to raise awareness about HIV and to support people who are living with HIV. “Marshall Islands could be the role model and take the lead proactively involving HIV+ people in the cause,” said Cati.
Cati said she was in the RMI to put a face on the HIV epidemic, and to share her personal journey. She said she hoped that people hearing her story would inspire them to want to “know their status,” and take the step to learn if they have HIV. People can help stop the spread of the illness when they know their status, and start treatment to ensure HIV does not develop into AIDS, she said.
“We cannot do it alone,” she said. “It takes the community to make a difference and save a life.”
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