…the story of Kensington Marufu
BY MUNYARADZI BLESSING DOMA
“I want you to believe that God exists, I want you to appreciate life from an angle of grace; that there is a certain thing called grace.”
The above were the words of 34-year-old Kensington Marufu, who was diagnosed with HIV when he was just aged 10 and the doctor who attended to his family said they only had five years to live.
Despite facing huge setbacks, including losing family members to the HIV virus, stigma, discrimination, missing out on precious school time and working at various farms to earn a living, Marufu triumphed to become a legal practitioner and author.
Marufu was one of the key speakers at a recent media workshop organised by the National AIDS Council (NAC) in Chinhoyi.
And his presentation titled, “Testimony-Positively HIV positive,” touched many attendees, including the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere, who said Marufu’s testimony was “proof that living with HIV is not the end of life.”
Marufu revealed that along with his parents and brother, they tested HIV positive in the year 2000 and the doctor said they would all not live beyond five years.
“When we got tested on the 23rd of March 2000, the doctor who attended to us estimated that we were not likely to live more than five years.
“It meant that I had about five years to live. Those days there was no medication, there were no ARVs (anti retrovirals), we were just taking cotrimoxazole and when I was in Grade 5, I knew most of those pills.
“So stereotypes unfortunately got affirmed, my brother passed on in 2003, my mother passed on in 2004 but my dad went beyond five years, actually he passed on in 2006,” revealed Marufu.
For some time, Marufu went into hiding, because of the labeling that was common during that time.
“I then realized that I was actually hiding from myself and it took me years to appreciate that there are certain things in life that we can never change and we will not go forward in life until we appreciate who we are.”
He revealed that he was called names such as “Go Slow”, and when he sat for his O-Level exams, he only managed to pass one subject, English with a B; and it meant that he had to go stay with his grandmother in Shackleton, Chinhoyi.
And there life was tough; as people were judged by how they could perform hard labour.
“So we were working in farms, not that I had the strength but I had no choice, I had friends who would assist me, those were the days when I also had a tattoo, a mohawk and I was smoking marijuana because I wanted to fit in.
“I had lost faith in life, I stopped believing in myself, I stopped believing in life, I stopped believing in a lot of things, you know losing parents who loved you and appreciated you and then growing up in an environment where you are unfairly judged really affected me, so I started taking some drugs,” narrated Marufu.
He further revealed that how the HIV messages were packaged in those days also affected him as some of the phrases in use included, “AIDS kills”, “mukondombera” and “chakatikuuya chiya”, as this brought fear.
“When I was in Shackleton, things were really tough and I did not expect to live until now, but God was with me throughout the time.
“When I’m telling my story, I want you to believe that God exists, I want you to appreciate life from an angle of grace; that there is a certain thing called grace,” he said.
Kensington also revealed that in 2010 when he was now 20 years-old; he went to his late father’s bank and he was notified that he (father) had left US$1000 in his account.
He revealed that when all due processes were done, he wanted to use the money to buy a Mazda 323; but he was warned against and was advised that going back to school was the best option.
And he went back to school and rewrote his O-Levels but that also had its own challenges because of his advanced age as the name calling started again.
“Because I was very old, I was called many names like kadhara, but one thing that my mum told me before she died was that when people laugh at you, laugh with them, they will feel embarrassed.
“So when people called me kadhara, I would correct them to say no, call me mudhara because I was actually the eldest at the school.
“Then I rewrote my O-Levels in 2011 and passed eight subjects, I had 4As, 3Bs and a C,” revealed Marufu.
While he thought he would easily get a job maybe as a cop or soldier, it was not to be; as “some of the things that hindered me had something to do with my health, my age, there were a lot of things involved.”
Despite passing his O-Levels; in 2012 he was just at home, the same with 2013 and at one time he was herding some old lady’s cattle.
“The old lady would brag that her herd boy had passed Mathematics and English.
“I didn’t have any problems with that because I had passed the two subjects and I was also a herd boy; that’s life.
“In 2014, a certain guy called Kuda approached me to say if I assist you to go for A-Level, would you take the opportunity.
“I was now 24; but then there is a verse in the Bible that says; I know the plans I have for you, so because I was desperate, I accepted.
“And I started my Form 5 at St Pauls Musami; and as always, teachers would ask for our ages and then people would know.
“You would get nicknames and being at a boarding school I would share hostels, so I had my medication but then I didn’t want people to know, but it was really difficult,” he narrated.
He went on to reveal to NAC that taking medication is one of the challenges for children living with HIV who learn at boarding schools because they get to share hostels.
Despite the challenges he faced, Marufu revealed that it didn’t affect him academically as he went on to ace, first becoming a class monitor, then Deputy Headboy, before later scoring 15 point when he sat for his A-Level exams in 2015.
Marufu then enrolled into Law School and today he is a Legal Officer at a company in the capital.
He then wrote a book titled “Touched by Grace”, which is about his life with HIV.
He said of the book; “because I understand that there is another Kensington out there, I’m not alone like what I’m saying, there is another Kensington going through similar challenges but that Kensington does not have role models.
“Because most of the people like Kensington are in hiding, they will never expose themselves, they will hide, they will succeed but in hiding. “So that Kensington is just where he is and he doesn’t know if there is anything in life.
“So I have written a book, maybe one day that Kensington will read the story of Kensington and appreciate life; that life can change, God can make things possible.
“The title of the book is called Touched by Grace; because grace touched me. I would not have achieved this without God, because the life was actually too complicated,” he added.
And Marufu took the opportunity to hand over his book to Minister Muswere, describing it as a special moment for him, considering his journey to success.
