How Peer Support Helped Scholastica Rediscover Hope.

For years, Scholastica carried a burden she felt she could not share with anyone. Born with HIV, she spent much of her childhood taking medication without understanding why. When she finally learned her status as a teenager, the news shattered her confidence and changed how she saw herself. Once outspoken and active in class, Scholastica withdrew into silence. She became convinced that she was different from everyone around her and feared being judged if people knew the truth. The stigma she felt, even within herself, left her isolated and alone.

"I became a silent person," she recalls. "Anytime I was in a group, I would become so quiet."

As the years passed, the weight of secrecy and self-doubt became overwhelming. Struggling to accept her diagnosis and unable to share her fears, Scholastica reached a point where she felt hopeless.

"There was a time I almost committed suicide," she says. "Keeping everything to myself was killing me."

Her turning point came when she joined a UN Women-supported peer-to-peer support group for adolescent girls and young women living with HIV. Through the programme's peer support toolkit, she met other young women facing similar challenges and, for the first time, realized she was not alone. The group became a safe space where she could speak openly, learn from others, and begin rebuilding the confidence she had lost. Through sessions on self-confidence, communication, mental health and treatment adherence, Scholastica started challenging the fear and stigma she had carried for years. One lesson stayed with her: HIV is not the end of life.

"Being HIV-positive does not stop you from achieving anything," she says. "We can achieve anything in life, just like anyone else."

As she connected with her peers, Scholastica began to see herself differently. She realized that the harshest judgments she faced often came from within. The programme helped her understand that living well with HIV means caring for both physical and mental health and letting go of the shame and loneliness that had defined so much of her adolescence.

Slowly, the young woman who had retreated into silence found her voice again. She made new friends, participated in discussions, and rediscovered the confidence she thought she had lost forever.

"The confidence came back," she says. "The silence that became my friend went away, and the beautiful self I had before discovering my status came back."

Today, Scholastica takes her medication consistently, prioritizes her well-being, and faces the future with hope. She now uses her own experience to encourage other young people living with HIV to reject stigma and believe in their potential.

Looking back, she believes the UN Women-supported programme came into her life at exactly the right moment.  "The training helped me when I wanted to give up," she reflects. "I told myself, 'No, you don't have to do this. 

Through peer support, mentorship and safe spaces for learning and connection, UN Women is helping adolescent girls and young women living with HIV build resilience, improve their well-being, and overcome the stigma that often prevents them from reaching their full potential. For Scholastica, the programme did more than provide information. It restored her confidence, helped her find her voice, and transformed what once felt like the end of her story into the beginning of a new chapter filled with purpose, self-belief and hope.