“HIV brings a lot of
fear and shame. The
training I received at
Haggai Institute helped
me believe that in spite
of being infected with
HIV, ‘I will not die but
live, and will proclaim
what the Lord
has done’
(Psalm 118:17).”
Dr. Watiti (right) with one of his colleagues at the hospice. In addition to onsite treatment, the facility also provides support to 34,000 patients throughout the country.
In 1986, AIDS had barely been
identified. Yet the disease was
already spreading in Africa,
and as a young doctor, Stephen
Watiti was already treating the
symptoms.
It was that year he noticed that
he himself had developed a
swelling of the lymph nodes –
a classic sign of HIV infection.
He could have picked it up
from his patients. He could
– tragically – have picked it
up from the wife he had just
married.
Either way, AIDS was to change
the course of his life.
More than 25 years later,
Dr. Stephen Watiti is at the
forefront of Uganda’s battle to
combat HIV. More than 110,000
Ugandans die of the disease
every year. Stephen is one of
the country’s foremost AIDS
advocates, and has treated
hundreds of patients over the
years.
“In 1988 I attended Haggai
Institute training in
Singapore,” he says. “At the
time, I wasn’t feeling well but
didn’t know I had HIV.”
Several years later, sick
and incapacitated, Stephen
returned to the books he’d
brought home from training.
“When I read Dr. Haggai’s story
and how he struggled with pain
and loss without becoming
bitter, I decided that, in spite
of my difficulties, I could trust
God and come out a better
person. Haggai Institute’s
training strengthened my faith
in God,” he says.
For most of his medical
career, Stephen has treated
HIV patients. He says, “As a
doctor and Christ-follower
living with HIV and working
“Detailed and confidential
records are kept for each
patient. In many cases,
patients don’t want their
condition made public due
to ongoing social stigma or
fear of family rejection.”
11