By Issa A. Mansaray
Zambian Princess Kasune Zulu entered a small room that
resembles a classroom. The blackboard was clean with few
white chalk marks on it.
The room served as a guest office for Zulu, who gave a
speech at Bethel University’s Seminary in October. A
warm smile greeted me as I entered the room. Her ebony
face and glittering eyes did not reveal anything about
her life story. She wore pink and mauve African attire
with marching shoes. I moved close to Zulu, who was
sitting on a couch, so I would not miss her words on
tape as we started our interview.
Zulu was not shy in telling people that she is
HIV-positive. Off stage, Zulu’s easy laughter,
friendly handshake and warm smile conceal the
struggles she has gone through in her life.
“You want to talk to me?” Zulu asked. “Let me meet these people,and then I’ll end with you.”
Few minutes before our meeting, I sat in the second
row at Bethel’s Benson Great Hall listening to Zulu as
she told her audience how she contracted HIV. While on
stage, Zulu’s radiant eyes captivated her audience as
she talked about her personal struggles with the
disease.
Speaking with a fierce voice that echoed
through the Great Hall without measuring her words,
she moved her audience to frequently clap and nod.
“I told you. You are in for a treat,” said Richard
Stearns, director of World Vision, after Zulu’s
speech.
With a royal name, Princess Zulu(photo) was born in 1977 in
Kabwe, central Zambia, to parents who died of
HIV/AIDS. Zulu is one of thousands of children who
dropped out of school in Zambia and many other African
countries.
She married at the age of 15 and had to raise her two
children and five stepchildren without any job or
skills, having to struggle with her HIV-positive
husband, Moffat Zulu, for their daily survival in her
community.
For almost three years, she worked as a volunteer at a
local hospital with patients suffering from HIV/AIDS.
In a country with a strong stigma against HIV-positive
patients, Zulu devoted her time to caring for those
with the “silient sickness,” as HIV/AIDS is known in
her country. Many people do not want to talk about it
or go to the hospital because of its stigma in a
country where many people are unaware of the causes of
HIV/AIDS.
“No one prays for death,” Zulu tells her Bethel
audience. In 1997, she and her husband were both
diagnosed HIV-positive. After months of pondering what
went wrong with her life, she found her calling to
advocate for the hundreds of HIV/AIDS victims in
Zambia and Africa in general.
Zulu’s first step was to educate the men in her
country about the disease. She hitchhiked with Zambian
truck drivers that ply the highways to neighboring
countries. Her mission, she said, was to talk to the
drivers about HIV/AIDS and prevention methods.
At the beginning, her church and husband disapproved
of her method of educating others about the disease
that was spreading in Zambia. Zulu said she felt it
was her calling to perform God’s duty by hitchhiking
with the truck drivers, perceived to be the high-risk
carriers of the deadly disease as they crossed borders
every day.
Zulu’s perseverance paid off as her husband, church,
and local community came to approve of her work. In
2000, she hosted her first nationally broadcast radio
talk show, “Positive Living,” to inform Zambians about
people living with HIV/AIDS throughout country.
Zulu told her radio listeners the moving story of her
life, how she lost her parents and became infected
with the disease. Through discussions with various
speakers, Zulu’s listeners were able to learn about
HIV/AID prevention, testing, treatment and condom use.
She also discussed other HIV/AIDS-related topics to
inform and teach people all over Zambia.
Zulu became passionate about the HIV/AIDs issue and
tireless in spreading her message across Africa. She
explained how the doctors were unable to save her
dying mother from HIV.
“Why bother to get her the medicine?” Zulu recalled a
doctor telling her as she trekked to a neighboring
village to get her mother’s medicine. “She is dead
already.” Zulu said her mother pleaded with her from
her sick bed to take care of her brothers and sister
also infected with HIV/AIDs.
In 2001, Zulu opened two foundations to help orphans
and children affected by HIV/AIDS, as well as a
community support group. In 2003, she was appointed an
international advocate for World Vision’s Hope
Initiative, a program that aims at preventing the
spread of HIV/AIDS and caring for victims.
In her new position, Zulu became a national and
international speaker. She facilitates and teaches
health education for youth, especially young women.
She has developed partnership programs with churches,
promotes volunteer counseling, and teaches awareness
of HIV/AIDS transmission.
Her message transcends many countries. In October,
Zulu addressed a different audience at Minnesota’s
Bethel University Seminary, where she pleaded with
Christians to be more responsive to HIV/AIDS. Despite
her struggles and challenges in life, Zulu’s case
testifies that in life many things are possible.
“Princess Zulu is a very courageous woman,” said
Kenyan Pamella Mochama, director of Wings of Africa, a
Minnesota-based HIV/AIDS counseling organization. “The
fact that she has come out to speak about her story
and to fight HIV/AIDS among young women, that is very
courageous of her.
“She is a good spokeslady and a good HIV activist,”
Mochama added, “and she is doing a lot to create
HIV/AIDS awareness, especially in many parts of the
world. And especially in America, where HIV/AIDS has
not quite gotten a very good response... She is creating
the type of awareness that is needed at this time.”
Comments