# Mark Wandyaka

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Storyteller • HIV Advocate • Documentary Creator

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://markwandyaka.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Stories & Reflections](https://markwandyaka.com/blog/)
- [Beyond the Treatment Success: Who Is Uganda’s HIV Response Still Missing?](https://markwandyaka.com/beyond-the-treatment-success-who-is-ugandas-hiv-response-still-missing/): I was born with HIV. Today, I lead an organization, serve communities, pursue my education and build plans for my future. Treatment has helped make that life possible. When Uganda celebrates progress in HIV treatment, I understand what those achievements mean beyond a report. They mean people getting the opportunity to raise children, earn a
- [Disclosure Is a Power Game](https://markwandyaka.com/disclosure-is-a-power-game/): We tell people living with HIV to disclose. We rarely ask what happens after they do. There is a sentence almost every person living with HIV will eventually hear: "You need to tell them." Tell your partner. Tell the person you're dating. Tell the person you're about to become intimate with. Be honest. Do the
- [Are We Prepared for the Next HIV/AIDS Crisis?](https://markwandyaka.com/are-we-prepared-for-the-next-hiv-aids-crisis/): Uganda is being asked to take greater responsibility for its HIV/AIDS response just as worrying new numbers emerge. What happens if our health system cannot absorb the next wave? There was a time when HIV/AIDS was impossible to ignore in Uganda. It was everywhere. In our homes. In our schools. In churches. On radio programmes.
- [HIV, Masculinity, and the Fear of Weakness](https://markwandyaka.com/hiv-masculinity-and-the-fear-of-weakness/): Why some men would rather suffer in silence than admit they are afraid A man is taught many things growing up. Don't cry. Don't complain. Don't admit you're afraid. Take care of yourself. Protect your family. Be strong. Be a man. These lessons can be useful. Responsibility, courage, resilience and self-reliance are qualities worth having.
- [The House I Will Build for My Mother](https://markwandyaka.com/the-house-i-will-build-for-my-mother/): When Richard Kyakulaga talks about his future, he does not begin by talking about a job. He talks about a house. A house he wants to build for his mother. It is a simple dream, but behind it is a story of determination, opportunity, family and the power of education to change what a young
- [When Faith Becomes Misinformation: Have We Forgotten What HIV Education Taught Us?](https://markwandyaka.com/when-faith-becomes-misinformation-have-we-forgotten-what-hiv-education-taught-us/): A reflection on pastors, HIV “healing” testimonies, and the responsibility that comes with speaking into people's lives There is something deeply unsettling happening in some churches in Uganda. People are standing before congregations and testifying that they have been healed of HIV. They say that a pastor prayed for them. They say that the HIV
- [I Was Once the Child They Sponsored. Today, I Lead the Mission.](https://markwandyaka.com/i-was-once-the-child-they-sponsored-today-i-lead-the-mission/): "Sometimes the greatest evidence that a program works is not found in a report—it is found in a person's life." When people ask me why I believe so deeply in child sponsorship, I don't begin with statistics. I begin with my own story. Because before I became the Country Director of He Intends Victory Uganda,
- [From One Goat to a Home: The Story of a Mother Who Refused to Give Up](https://markwandyaka.com/from-one-goat-to-a-home-the-story-of-a-mother-who-refused-to-give-up/): Some stories remind us that lasting change doesn't always begin with a large investment. Sometimes it begins with one opportunity. For one mother in Fort Portal, that opportunity came in the form of a single goat. Today, that goat is no longer part of her story. Instead, it has become something far greater—a home that
- [Why Community Support Groups Change Lives](https://markwandyaka.com/why-community-support-groups-change-lives/): When most people hear the words support group, they imagine a room where people sit in a circle and talk about their problems. There is certainly value in that. But after years of working with communities affected by HIV/AIDS, I have come to believe that support groups are capable of something far greater. They do
- [More Than an Animal: How Livestock Can Transform the Lives of Families](https://markwandyaka.com/more-than-an-animal-how-livestock-can-transform-the-lives-of-families/): When people hear that an organization is giving goats, pigs, or chickens to vulnerable families, the reaction is often the same: "That's a nice donation." But what many people fail to see is that livestock is not simply a gift. It is an investment. When managed well, a single animal has the potential to improve
- [The Mental Health Epidemic Hidden Inside HIV](https://markwandyaka.com/the-mental-health-epidemic-hidden-inside-hiv/): "We've spent decades learning how to treat the virus. It's time we learned how to heal the person." When the Blood Test Doesn't Tell the Whole Story For much of the world's history with HIV, success was measured by survival. The early years of the epidemic were defined by loss, fear, and uncertainty. A positive
- [What It Costs to Be "The HIV Guy"](https://markwandyaka.com/what-it-costs-to-be-the-hiv-guy/): The hidden burden of turning your pain into your life's work. Every time I walk onto a stage, people already know one thing about me before I even speak. "That's the HIV guy." Sometimes they say it with admiration. Sometimes with curiosity. Sometimes with pity. Almost always, it becomes the first thing they know about
- [We Didn't Just Build a Borehole — We Restored Hope in Mukubo ](https://markwandyaka.com/we-didnt-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
- [Why Young People Are Tired of HIV Messaging — And What Needs to Change in 2026 ](https://markwandyaka.com/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
- [Faith Is Not the Problem — Silence Is ](https://markwandyaka.com/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
- [The New Face of HIV in Uganda Isn’t Who You Think ](https://markwandyaka.com/the-new-face-of-hiv-in-uganda-isnt-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
- [Undetectable — But Still Untouchable ](https://markwandyaka.com/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
- [The Lie We Tell About HIV Stigma ](https://markwandyaka.com/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
- [BORN WITH HIV- FOUND LOVE AT 30](https://markwandyaka.com/born-with-hiv-found-love-at-30/): I Was Born With HIV. At 30, I Finally Understand What Love Really Means. I was born with HIV. That sentence has always carried weight—sometimes louder in my own mind than in the world around me. It shaped how I saw myself long before it shaped how others saw me. And as I approach 30, I’ve begun to realize
- [HIV Stigma Is Not About Ignorance](https://markwandyaka.com/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
- [Why HIV Stigma Still Exists in 2026 — And What Leaders Are Getting Wrong ](https://markwandyaka.com/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
- [I Thought Mozambique Was Dangerous — I Was Completely Wrong](https://markwandyaka.com/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
- [Living With HIV in Uganda Today: Treatment & Stigma](https://markwandyaka.com/what-its-like-living-with-hiv-in-uganda-today/): Uganda is often described as one of Africa’s major success stories in the fight against HIV. Over the past three decades, the country has made enormous progress in expanding treatment access, improving public awareness, and reducing new infections. Antiretroviral therapy is widely available, and millions of Ugandans living with HIV are now able to live
- [What It Means to Be Born With HIV ](https://markwandyaka.com/what-it-means-to-be-born-with-hiv/): When most people think about HIV, they imagine someone becoming infected later in life. The story they picture often involves risky behavior, illness, and eventually treatment. But for thousands of people around the world, HIV is not something that arrived later in life. They were born with it. For people born with HIV, the virus is not

## Pages

- [Leading HIV/AIDS Community Programs Across Uganda and Africa](https://markwandyaka.com/): Storyteller • HIV Advocate • Documentary Creator Exploring faith, resilience, and HIV through documentary storytelling. Born with HIV in Uganda.
- [Projects Creating Sustainable Community Change](https://markwandyaka.com/podcast/): As Country Director of He Intends Victory Uganda, I lead and oversee community development initiatives that address the interconnected challenges of HIV, poverty, education, and economic empowerment. These projects are designed to create lasting impact by equipping individuals and families with opportunities to thrive—not simply survive. I integrate spiritual care into community development because I
- [Captured Moments](https://markwandyaka.com/gallery/): Community Impact Supporting villages of people living with HIV/AIDS during a community outreach program in Uganda. Clean Water Projects Public Speaking Leadership Across Africa Personal Behind the Camera
- [About](https://markwandyaka.com/about/): Mark Wandyaka Living Positive. Leading with Purpose. I am Mark Wandyaka, a Ugandan HIV advocate, community leader, speaker and development practitioner whose work is shaped by both lived experience and years of working directly with communities affected by HIV/AIDS. I was born with HIV. For much of my life, HIV was something I had to
- [LIFE, TOGETHER](https://markwandyaka.com/documentaries-3/): Life, Together is a documentary journey across African communities exploring the realities of living with HIV, faith, resilience, and community life. Through conversations with individuals, support groups, churches, and families, these stories highlight the human experiences behind the statistics. Episodes Episode 1 Why I Started This Journey In this first episode, I share my personal
- [Work With Me](https://markwandyaka.com/work-with-me/): I Don’t Just Talk About HIV. I Change How People Think About It. Through storytelling, speaking, and community engagement, I work with organizations, churches, and institutions to challenge stigma, shift mindsets, and create conversations that lead to real change. My work focuses on one core outcome: 👉 Helping people move from fear and misunderstanding… to
- [Get In Touch](https://markwandyaka.com/get-in-touch/): Let’s Tell Powerful Stories Together If you're interested in collaborating, inviting me to speak, or discussing a documentary project, I’d love to hear from you. My work focuses on storytelling, HIV advocacy, and documentary filmmaking that explores faith, resilience, and real human experiences. Whether you're an organization, journalist, filmmaker, or someone with a meaningful story
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- [Privacy Policy](https://markwandyaka.com/privacy-policy/): Who we are Suggested text: Our website address is: https://markwandyaka.com. Comments Suggested text: When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://markwandyaka.com/category/uncategorized/)
- [HIV & Public Health](https://markwandyaka.com/category/hiv-public-health/)
- [HIV education](https://markwandyaka.com/category/hiv-public-health/hiv-education/)
- [Personal Stories](https://markwandyaka.com/category/personal-stories/)

## Tags

- [HIV](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/hiv/)
- [HIV Uganda](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/hiv-uganda/)
- [Antiretroviral Therapy](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/antiretroviral-therapy/)
- [HIV Stigma](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/hiv-stigma/)
- [Public Health Africa](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/public-health-africa/)
- [Living With HIV](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/living-with-hiv/)
- [Born with HIV](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/born-with-hiv/)
- [Perinatal HIV](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/perinatal-hiv/)
- [HIV treatment](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/hiv-treatment/)
- [Mozambique](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/mozambique/)
- [Travel Africa](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/travel-africa/)
- [African Travel](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/african-travel/)
- [Personal Story](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/personal-story/)
- [HIV Advocacy](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/hiv-advocacy/)
- [Perception vs Reality](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/perception-vs-reality/)
- [Breaking Stereotypes](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/breaking-stereotypes/)
- [Travel Experience](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/travel-experience/)
- [Public Health](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/public-health/)
- [mental health](https://markwandyaka.com/tag/mental-health/)