Kamarra Bell-Wykes, Creative Director of Ilbijerri Theatre Company, Playwright and Director I am a Jagera/Butchulla woman from South-Eastern Queensland. I contracted hep C when I was 15 (in 1995) through shared IV use. I struggled with my hep C status for 20 years while simultaneously writing the hepatitisinspired works performed by Ilbijerri. the audience included, “I will pass the information on to my community,” and “I only came for the popcorn and Coke, but thought it was amazing and found a connection with the characters”. Another commented, “it was the first play I have seen, and I felt goosebumps.” Hepatitis SA and the Aboriginal Health Council of SA hope to secure more funding to bring the play back and show it to more audiences across South Australia. v
I successfully cleared the virus in 2010 and finally felt empowered to openly discuss my status and begin using my personal experience as a tool of advocacy. I have advocated for understanding around the lived experience of the virus and smashing related stigma in the Indigenous community over the last 15 years through the works Chopped Liver, Body Armour and Viral: Are You the Cure? Hep C is not an individual virus: it impacts our community as a whole and as long as the virus remains a dirty secret and something shrouded in stigma, we will not be able to seek the healing we all need. The power for change starts with us and the facts are simple—hep C is a serious virus and it can kill you. Treatment is available, it’s safe and free. The only thing that can keep hep C viral is us and how we view it. We need to overcome it, instead of using it as a weapon of judgment and shame. v January 2019 • HEPATITIS SA COMMUNITY NEWS 80
11
