Winnie Orende was 12 years when doctors informed her of her HIV status.
"At that age, I was so confused. I had never had sex before; I am not a prostitute, so how could I have HIV?" she thought.
Orende, the last born in a family of four, lost her mother in 2003 in May.
Two months later, her doctors asked her to visit the hospital for 'consultation'.
Naive and orphaned, she went to the hospital hoping the doctor was calling her to award her a scholarship for school.
"The doctor was a close friend of my late mother and father. I was confident he was calling me to award me a scholarship for school after my mum's demise," she narrates.
On arrival, she said her doctor was unusually inquisitive.
"It was weird," she recalls.
The first question the doctor asked was what killed her mother?
'Oxygen deficiency, ' Orende answered.
What of dad? the doctor asked.
"Well, I was told a coma' the young girl answered.
Orende recounts that at that point, the doctor went silent.
"I continued eating my burger. I love eating so the doc was really boring me with his nagging questions," she said.
Hardly had she taken two bites than the doctor interjected with questions again.
He asked what causes HIV?
"I very quickly answered tabia mbaya (bad manners) - to mean intercourse. That question was always in my exam papers."
The doctor then asked her to describe the body of a HIV infected person.
Orende quickly answered skeleton-looking, citing that she saw such a photo in her class four coursebook.
The doctor paused again, that time Orende recalls the pause was longer, allowing her to take four bites of her burger, then he interjected.
"Why do you take aspirin medication every day?" the doctor asked.
Orende says she could not answer that question.
Her mother always forced her to take aspirin every day even when she was not sick.
"My mother beat me up when I skipped medication . She said it helped with chest pains," she narrates
Orende said that her mother beat her up if she skipped the medication.
That's when the doctor broke the news of her status to her.
"The drugs are meant to manage your HIV condition," he said.
Orende refused to accept her diagnosis until she was admitted to hospital on several occasions.
She said that HIV diagnosis then was like a death sentence.
"If the disease killed my parents, I wondered how I would survive. I wanted to die."
She recounts that she refused to start her ARV medication immediately.
"I felt bad. It would have been better if they told me about my status, rather than another person telling me about it. I wanted to kill myself, but then I realised that even if I killed myself, my sister would suffer. So I stopped having suicidal thoughts."
When she finally accepted the ARV treatment, she brags of a healthy life.
"I am very happy with my condition right now, taking medication as required and I am healthy. I am actually looking for a serious relationship," she chuckles.
Asked whether she would reveal her HIV status to her new boyfriend.
"Why not? Lets learn to open up about our HIV status,"she said .
Campaigners want to change attitudes and are calling for better sex education and more information to be shared about HIV in Kenya where conversations on such topics are often stifled by conservative religious groups.
Dr Griffins Mang'uro said it is also important for guardians to be more open and tell children their HIV status - when they are between the ages of nine and 11.
"As soon as a child understands what HIV is, what disease is, then that is the right age to break the news to them that they are infected and that they need to take medication.
"The thing is, as soon as a child takes any medication then they should know that they are HIV-positive and they are taking medication for HIV.
He warns that to leave them in the dark also puts them at risk as they may not take the medication properly.
"Or they might grow resentful in future because they were not told early."
