My name is Tendai Mazhazhate and I am aged 38. I live in Nora area in Gokwe North District, Zimbabwe. I am a widowed mother of three and started multi drug resistant tuberculosis, MDR-TB, treatment on 15 July 2013.

I have been a volunteer community health worker in the past but I cannot continue now due to medication.

So some of my friends told me that these NGO people wanted to experiment their drugs with me and I would not survive. But getting me on treatment was not easy and I really want to thank the MSF team which was persistent. On four occasions, I ran away from them and stayed with my 11 year old son in the bush for a week as I tried to evade the health care workers.

It sounds funny now as I explain but it was really tough for me. I was the first woman to be diagnosed with MDR-TB in Gokwe North District. And the medication made everyone around me scary. 

For now I have to focus on my medication and I am sure I will be healed.