Nyce Wanjeri was forced to take care of her siblings as her mother battled HIV which took a toll on her health.
The former Auntie Boss actress opened up about being a victim of HIV/AIDs while speaking during a candid interview with Muthoni Kagoni on her YouTube channel.
Nyce Wanjeri revealed that the father who raised her wasn’t her biological dad. She said that she didn’t know about her paternity until her aunties started mistreating her.
The actress disclosed that she was particularly frustrated by relatives after her stepfather died in 2002.
“During his funeral, I was 11 years, my aunt – sister wa daddy- asked why I was grieving and yet he wasn’t my real dad. I didn’t know he was not my real dad. It shocked me.
“I got stressed and got ulcers at that young age. They made my life unbearable, in ushago life was hard for me, I am not saying this to embarrass anyone I am doing it to heal, they made life unbearable, they would uproot what my mum planted, and we slept hungry,” she said.
Wanjeri revealed that she came to find out that her mother was suffering from HIV after she got sick for a long period of time.
The actress said her mother started getting sick shortly after her dad passed on.
“I remember one time my mum’s sisters came to visit and when they saw her (her mother) they all cried, put her in the car and drove her to the town hospital. She was in the hospital for 3 weeks feeding on juice because she had severe ulcers and then one day I cleaned the bedroom because we used to share a room.
“I turned the mattress over and found envelopes. My curiosity was so much I opened it up then that’s when I discovered my dad was HIV positive and my mum is but our last born is not,” she narrated.
Nyce Wanjeri disclosed that she later found out that her father was cheating on her mum as he live in Mombasa while they stayed upcountry.
“So I came to discover that when my dad used to live in Mombasa he had ‘people’ over there because he would stay for very long periods without coming home. He found out he was HIV positive in Mombasa and didn’t tell my mum. She was so stressed because at the time there was such stigma against people diagnosed with HIV,” Nyce Wanjeri said.
She added that;
“I am not sharing these stories for sympathy. I confronted my mum about her status asking her why she wanted to die and leave me to look after my two brothers. I told her I will drop out of school and not learn English yet it was my dream.
“I cried and told her to cultivate the will to live. I begged my mother. She held my hand and told me she will live. She lived for another year after that. At that time there were no ARV’s so she was on boosters.”
