Volunteer preschool teacher Siphesiwe ‘Minky’ Sithole, 40, discovered in 2006 that she was HIV-positive. Stigma and shame about having the disease forced her into a year-long denial. She then decided to start living with the future in mind, and founded a local HIV and Aids support group near her home in New Thulwane, in the Lubombo province of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). ‘The group supports each other to live positively, to eat healthy food, to exercise the body, to not depend on other people, and to love yourself more than needing someone else to love you,’ she says

Having access to clean water and living in a hygienic environment are crucial for Minky and others living with HIV, as they require more water than those living without the disease. If they fall ill with diarrhoea, their anti-retrovirals (ARVs) are rendered ineffective. Finding clean water is a huge task for Minky, as the Lubombo region where she lives has now suffered its third consecutive drought, a direct result of global heating. Although she has a rainwater harvesting tank, it does not provide enough water for her and her family

As the government-provided water infrastructure in Minky’s community is now defunct, residents must source water from riverbeds such as this one, which is a three-hour walk from her village. They must scrape a shallow depression in the sand and then wait for it to gradually fill with enough water for a single day’s use, a process which takes about 90 minutes. Given that Minky and her extended family walk three to four hours to collect the water, the entire process is time-consuming and fatiguing

The lack of clean water means that every day poses a challenge. ‘When I open my eyes in the morning, I go crazy because [I think]: “Wow, we have to go and collect water. Where are [we] going to find water today?”’ says Minky. ‘Ifyou are weak, you can’t even go and fetch the water. You have to wait for the school kids to come back [home] and collect the water for you. When they come back, you just pour it in the pot to make supper and it’s finished. Sometimes when you have to take the pills, you don’t even have a sip of water in the house’

The newly built latrines in Minky’s community are essential to keeping New Thulwane as hygienic as possible for its residents. ‘We are happy if it rains, but the water collects everything that was in the forest and takes it down to the river … and we drink it again,’ says Minky. ‘The pit latrines are very important because we are trying to clean the whole community. We don’t want people to go to the forest to wee there. We want everyone to wee in the protected, well-built toilets, so that there is no infection coming into the new clean water system that we will be having’

Minky’s friend, Jabu Shongwe, 52, holds an instant photo of herself with her friends Nelile Dlamini, 37, (left), and Sibusile Nkambule, 42, (right), which was taken at Shongwe’s home in New Thulwane. ‘I don’t have words to describe Minky, she is something else, I can’t describe her. She is everything!’ says Jabu. ‘We are all the same. Everyone is crazy! When we meet up, it’s hard for us to go back home because we are always telling jokes.’ Nellie has died since this photograph was taken

Minky was 26 when she tested positive for HIV. She learned how to take her ARVs at the local health centre, where she educated herself about the disease. In 2008, she started up the support group, focused on living positively. ‘We motivate people,’ says Minky. ‘Even if you’re not HIV-positive, you can still join the group if you live with someone positive at home, so that you know how to treat people living with HIV and what their weaknesses are. You see? We bring love to the people and we give them positive life’

Peanut butter production is one of the income-generating activities undertaken by Minky’s support group. Here, a bag of peanuts is poured out and the bad nuts and husks are separated during a demonstration at a community centre in New Thulwane. ‘We teach each other how to keep ourselves busy with income-generating projects,’ says Minky. ‘We teach our members how to make polish, how to make vaseline, and to buy sweets to sell, to make fat cakes, so that you are able to feed your family’

Minky fills a tub with fresh peanut butter as she and a group of friends demonstrate how they make the product at a community centre near New Thulwane. ‘There are some things I would like to do but I can’t do because of the water situation,’ says Minky. ‘It is hot and I want to bathe at least two times a day but I can’t bathe two times a day, if I bathe in the morning I won’t bathe again. Sometimes if I want to cook I might decide not to cook some dishes because these dishes require more water … I don’t even have a small garden in the homestead because there is no water for that’

Minky sits and laughs with her friends and fellow HIV support group members Jabu (left), and Bonsile Nkuna (centre). While ARVs are readily available from the government, the resources to support those affected by HIV and their families are very limited. Minky’s group is an important support structure for both those who are HIV-positive and their carers. Members provide education on living healthily with HIV and managing the challenges of antiretroviral therapy. Members also cook and clean for those too ill to do it themselves

A trip to the riverbed is often a family affair. Here, children from Minky’s extended family play while their parents fill water vessels that everyone will carry home. Minky considers the hours she spends travelling to and from the riverbed time that she could use to pursue other activities. ‘If I didn’t have to spend that time collecting water I would choose to go and visit sick people and sell my products,’ she says. ‘When I had water I used to make ice blocks for the kids. If I had water I would do this and also make fat cakes to sell’

Minky’s children help to remind her when it is time to take her ARVs. Although she has never explicitly told them that she is HIV-positive, they support her nonetheless. ‘After I told my husband [that I was HIV-positive], he disappeared,’ says Minky. ‘He didn’t want anyone to know that he was HIV-positive [himself].’ Minky started volunteering with various organisations as a means of dealing with her emotions. ‘It’s good for me to keep busy because it means I don’t have time to think about my problems,’ she says. ‘I will think about your problem instead’