Author: Mark Wandyaka
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We Didn’t Just Build a Borehole — We Restored Hope in Mukubo
On the sixth day of our borehole project in Mukubo Village, western Uganda, I stood quietly watching men work under the afternoon sun. The drilling equipment was covered in dust. Workers moved with the kind of determination that comes from knowing their work matters. Around us, life in the village continued as normal. Children played nearby. Women…
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Why Young People Are Tired of HIV Messaging — And What Needs to Change in 2026
I didn’t fully understand how broken HIV messaging had become until I left the city. Not in theory. Not from reports. But on the ground—Mukubo village, Fort Portal—where I’ve been leading a borehole project serving a community of about 5,000 people, many living with HIV/AIDS. Six days into the project, I found myself standing between two completely different realities. On…
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Faith Is Not the Problem — Silence Is
A personal story about the Church, HIV, and the things we refuse to say. I grew up in church. Not casually. Not occasionally. I mean really grew up in it—the kind where Sundays were non-negotiable, where your week was structured around services, youth fellowships, choir practices, and midweek gatherings. Church wasn’t just a place you went. It was a system you lived inside. And…
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The New Face of HIV in Uganda Isn’t Who You Think
I remember the first time I realised that HIV doesn’t look the way we think it does. It wasn’t in a hospital. It wasn’t in a documentary. It wasn’t even in a “high-risk” setting. It was in a normal conversation. A friend of mine — someone educated, careful, and fully aware of HIV — told me they had tested positive. There was no “reckless story.” No obvious mistake. No moment you…
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Undetectable — But Still Untouchable
There’s a quiet contradiction that no one wants to admit. Science has already solved one of the biggest fears around HIV. But society is still behaving like it hasn’t. We now live in a world where a person living with HIV, on consistent treatment, can reach an undetectable viral load—meaning the virus is so suppressed it cannot be…
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The Lie We Tell About HIV Stigma
I used to think it was ignorance. I was wrong. For a long time, I believed what everyone else believes about HIV stigma. I thought people stigmatize because they don’t know better. I thought if we educated people enough, stigma would slowly disappear. I thought awareness was the solution. But the more I lived with HIV… The more I spoke to people… The…
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HIV Stigma Is Not About Ignorance
The Day I Realized HIV Stigma Is Not About Ignorance — It’s About Fear. There was a time I believed something that many people still believe today: that HIV stigma exists because people simply don’t know enough. It sounded logical. If people understood how HIV is transmitted… If they knew about treatment… If they realized that people living with HIV can…
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Why HIV Stigma Still Exists in 2026 — And What Leaders Are Getting Wrong
We have ARVs. We have awareness campaigns. We have global funding (e.g. PEPFAR), international conferences (e.g. IAS), and decades of research. So why does HIV stigma still feel so alive in 2026? Why are people still whispering? Why are conversations still happening in corners instead of in the open? Why do so many people living…
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I Thought Mozambique Was Dangerous — I Was Completely Wrong
I expected danger in Mozambique—but found something completely different. A personal story about perception, fear, and reality. Before I landed in Mozambique, I had already made up my mind about it. Not consciously. Not deliberately. But it had already happened. Floods. Terrorism. Instability. That’s what came up when I searched. That’s what the videos showed. That’s what the headlines pushed to the top. And…
