Breaking Stereotypes | Mark Wandyaka

Are We Prepared for the Next HIV/AIDS Crisis?

Aug 25, 2026

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by

in HIV & Public Health, HIV education, Personal Stories

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.…

The House I Will Build for My Mother

Aug 24, 2026

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Mark Wandyaka

in HIV & Public Health, HIV education, Personal Stories

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…

More Than an Animal: How Livestock Can Transform the Lives of Families

Jul 31, 2026

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Mark Wandyaka

in HIV & Public Health, HIV education, Personal Stories

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…

Why Community Support Groups Change Lives

Jul 31, 2026

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Mark Wandyaka

in HIV & Public Health, HIV education, Personal Stories

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…

From One Goat to a Home: The Story of a Mother Who Refused to Give Up

Jul 31, 2026

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Mark Wandyaka

in HIV & Public Health, HIV education, Personal Stories

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…

I Was Once the Child They Sponsored. Today, I Lead the Mission.

Jul 31, 2026

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by

Mark Wandyaka

in HIV & Public Health, HIV education, Personal Stories

“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,…

The Mental Health Epidemic Hidden Inside HIV

Jul 30, 2026

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Mark Wandyaka

in HIV & Public Health, HIV education, Personal Stories

“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”

Jul 24, 2026

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Mark Wandyaka

in HIV & Public Health, HIV education, Personal Stories

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…

Faith Is Not the Problem — Silence Is

Apr 22, 2026

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Mark Wandyaka

in HIV & Public Health, HIV education

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

Apr 20, 2026

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Mark Wandyaka

in HIV & Public Health

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…

Tag: Breaking Stereotypes