2 November 2015<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

My name is Xolelwa Joni and I have survived extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). I am now a Donald Woods Foundation Peer Educator and ambassador in the fight against TB.<\/p>\n

I was born on the 8th of August 1983 in East London. I am a twin and I attended Inyathi Primary school and Mzokhanyo High school. I also studied Information Technology at Accord Business Studies College.<\/p>\n

In June 2012 I was diagnosed with Multi Drug Resistant TB (MDR-TB) after which I was admitted to Fort Grey TB Hospital in East London, South Africa a month later. I started my MDR treatment but a week later I was diagnosed with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB).<\/p>\n

I took the XDR treatment for two years, completing my treatment in January 2013. I have continued with my reviews for about two years now.<\/p>\n

In 2013 I became a Donald Woods Foundation Peer Educator in which I play a role as an ambassador as I have lived through the very difficult MDR\/XDR treatment.<\/p>\n

\n<\/em>“The journey of talking treatment was not an easy one \u2013 there was a lot of difficulty and pain throughout the process. I made it through with the support of my family, the Donald Woods Foundation, my friends, the nurses at Fort Grey TB Hospital and my nearest clinic in Braelyn in East London.” – Xolelwa Joni<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My struggles with XDR-TB have changed my life, making me aware of the importance of health issues and the fight against TB.<\/p>\n

I am pleased to report that currently I am now studying to be a nurse at Lilitha Nursing College, attached to \u00a0Butterworth Hospital in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 November 2015 My name is Xolelwa Joni and I have survived extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[113,128,104,130],"tags":[137,139,123,119,138],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7DEjh-17g","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4558,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/an-inspiring-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":4294,"position":0},"title":"An inspiring story","date":"July 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Meet Xolelwa Joni, a survivor of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) from Duncan Village in East London, South Africa \u2013 a city with a very high TB burden. Following her two-year battle with XDR-TB, Xolelwa joined the Donald Woods Foundation as peer educator in the Foundation\u2019s MDR-TB programme in East London.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Foundation"","img":{"alt_text":"joni film thumbnail","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/joni-film-thumbnail.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4180,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/dwf-mdr-tb-ambassador-to-feature-in-new-lilly-film\/","url_meta":{"origin":4294,"position":1},"title":"DWF MDR-TB ambassador to feature in new Lilly film","date":"May 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"XDR-TB survivor Xolelwa Joni (left) chats with her elder sister Fezeka Joni (middle) and Thandekile Essien (right), Programme Officer for Lilly SA's MDR-TB Partnership in the yard of her Duncan Village home.\u00a0Photo - Barbara Manning Soon the world will hear the incredible story of former Donald Woods Foundation peer-educator and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Foundation"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/xolelwa_lilly-film-2-1-e1463657187191.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4608,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/the-long-recovery-from-mdr-tb\/","url_meta":{"origin":4294,"position":2},"title":"The long recovery from MDR-TB","date":"July 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The long recovery from MDR-TB The road to recovering from drug-resistant TB is a long and gruelling journey. This feature article in the Daily Dispatch profiles the Donald Woods Foundation\u2019s MDR-TB programme in and around East London together with some encouraging words from Xolelwa Joni on sticking to the treatment\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Foundation"","img":{"alt_text":"Joni_DD TB feature","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Joni_DD-TB-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4302,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/dwf-hosting-mdr-tb-exposure-visit-in-bcm\/","url_meta":{"origin":4294,"position":3},"title":"DWF hosting MDR-TB exposure visit in BCM","date":"November 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"29 November 2015 The Donald Woods Foundation is hosting delegates on a one-day tour of Tuberculosis programme activities in Buffalo City on 30 November 2015. The delegates representing the Lilly\/Donald Woods Foundation MDR-TB partnership in Buffalo City will visit schools in Duncan Village, the Dimbaza Community Health Centre, the newly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Foundation"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4308,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/dwf-mdr-tb-partnership-providing-vital-support-in-fight-against-mdr-tb\/","url_meta":{"origin":4294,"position":4},"title":"DWF MDR-TB partnership providing vital support in fight against MDR-TB","date":"December 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"2 December 2015 The benefits of health education programmes for the youth, peer education in overcrowded prisons and the fact that access to available treatment was not always easy for the poor in remote areas were some of the messages received during a tour of DWF multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Foundation"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4283,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/dwf-tackles-drug-resistant-tb-in-the-eastern-cape\/","url_meta":{"origin":4294,"position":5},"title":"DWF tackles drug-resistant TB in the Eastern Cape","date":"August 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"6 August 2015 The Donald Woods Foundation is partnering with Lilly and United Way Worldwide to tackle multi-drug resistant TB in the Eastern Cape. The partnership aims to assist the Department of Health in the effective management of DR-TB in the province, through five strategic programmes: Training and Professional Development;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Foundation"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4294"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4294\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}