Maria Mejia did not have it easy growing up. She was sexually molested at just 3 years-old by a family member and by the time she was 13 she ran away from home. Then at 15 she joined a gang and contracted HIV. They say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and this is the case for Mejia who’s used her personal experience to raise awareness about HIV and the disparities seen in the Latino community.
“My first memory was at three years old; being sexually molested by an uncle, this caused me to feel ashamed, self-hate and a lot of anger growing up,” shares Mejia. In addition to that, her father would demean her by calling her a whore and telling her she would never amount to anything. This caused her life to spiral out of control at a very young age.
“I got tired of the abuse and ran away to the streets where I found a family of broken kids just like me. It was a very violent street gang and I became the girlfriend of the leader of the gang who gave me HIV at the age of 15 in 1998. Neither of us knew we had HIV,” she says.
Being so young and not knowing much about the disease, she immediately thought that she was going to die. Her self-esteem was through the floor and she thought her life was over because she had very little knowledge of HIV. “My mother told me not to tell anyone including family or friends. I understood it came from her trying to protect me. If you think we have ignorance now…back in those days, it was horrific!”
Fortunately, she was able to get the help she needed and used her personal experience to help raise awareness about the disease and even offer support to those that need it most. For the past 19 years, she’s been an HIV advocate and educator, she even has @MariaHIV the second largest online support group in the world in Facebook which is in both English and Spanish. She’s an advisor to Janssen pharmaceuticals for social media campaigns, a CDC ambassador, an HIV tester, author, blogger, YouTuber, counselor, educator, motivational speaker, and global ambassador for a women’s organization called The Well project. She started using social media as a tool to not only share her story and help others but quickly realized that she could reach the masses globally and help others that have been recently diagnosed with HIV.
In the Latino community, there’s a don’t ask, don’t tell rule and our community doesn’t want to talk about sex with our children. Sex is still not talked about at home or in schools and the word “condom” is taboo in schools even though the ages of the 50,0000 new infections range from ages 13 to 26. “African Americans and Latinos are the most affected by HIV/AIDS. I know many people will die because stigma will prevent them from seeking the treatment that they need. It’s important that the Latino community gets educated and stop the lack of knowledge that fuels this stigma.”
“I am here to show my face with dignity and respect. I am humanizing the condition by participating in things like The Well Project and amfAR’s Epic Voices public awareness campaign and leading by example of a testament to how people with HIV can be a 29-year survivor like myself.” AMfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research teamed up with Mejia to share her inspiring story as well as bring awareness about the disease and the resources that are available for people with HIV.
“I learn so much from every individual I come across and I am blessed that we are all trying to open our minds to make this world a better place.” She’s been doing outreach work for almost 20 years now and she’s very excited to be working with amfAR because that means her message will reach even more people. “I have been waiting for the cure for many years. I do have hope that we will all be free one day,” she says.