Testing for HIV in the belly of the Kalahari

The last time I went for a test was three years back during a youth event in Gaborone. Ever since then, I have found it difficult to go for further tests because whenever I make an attempt, I always find that the queues are too long. For starters, before one gets tested, they have to undergo mandatory counselling, which takes a long time.

It also goes without saying that many young urbanites feel that they cannot easily be infected with AIDS as they believe it is a 'disease' that mostly affects people from rural areas. This was demonstrated when I tried to ask my travelling companions to accompany me to Tebelopele.  One of them gave an excuse that he did not want to die in the desert. I interpreted that to mean that his greatest fear was that if he tested positive, he would be tempted to commit suicide in Gantsi. I began to wonder if it would be possible for me to kill myself if I were to test positive.