Life Beyond a Diagnosis
It was in 2021 when my life changed.
I was 26 when I was diagnosed with HIV - something I never thought would be part of my reality. At the time, I didn’t know what to think, how to feel, or where to begin. What felt distant suddenly became personal.
Living with HIV became more than a diagnosis. It became a journey of understanding - myself, others, and of life in a deeper way. It brought challenges, but it also brought something I didn’t expect: clarity, connection, and purpose.
I learned that we might share similar experiences, but we all move through them differently. And in that, I found the importance of honouring my own story while making space for others to live theirs.
Today, living with HIV also means community.
I’m part of Poz Vibe Tribe, a collective of people living with HIV and allies who come together to share experiences, support one another, and challenge the stigma that still exists around the virus. Through this community and through projects like the Poz Vibe Tribe Podcast, we create space for honest conversations and real stories to be heard.
Sharing my story is not just about awareness.
It’s about connection.
It’s about reminding ourselves that we are not alone.
Because even though labels exist,
there is still a whole life beyond them.
- With love, Phellipe
Community Led
There are moments when community changes everything.
For many people living with HIV, one of the hardest parts is
not the diagnosis itself - it’s the silence, the stigma,
and the feeling of isolation that can come with it.
That’s why groups like Poz Vibe Tribe matter so much.
What began in 2021 as a podcast slowly grew into something much bigger: a community-led movement focused on connection, visibility, education, and honest conversations around HIV in Ireland.
Officially launching as a social enterprise in 2025, Poz Vibe Tribe was created with a powerful purpose - to challenge outdated perceptions of HIV and create space for people living with the virus to be seen, heard, and understood beyond stigma.
At the centre of this journey is the The Poz Vibe Podcast, hosted by activists Robbie Lawlor and Veda Lady. Through personal stories, open conversations, and educational discussions, the podcast has become a place where people can listen, relate, learn, and feel less alone.
But Poz Vibe Tribe extends far beyond digital platforms.
Their collaboration with the HSE on the You, Me and HIV campaign marked an important shift in how HIV is publicly represented in Ireland. Launched in 2025, the campaign focused on breaking misinformation and reinforcing messages that are still not widely understood by many people today.
Messages like:
- Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U)
- HIV treatment allows people to live long and healthy lives
- Parenthood is possible for people living with HIV
- Effective treatment can be as simple as taking one pill a day
Most importantly, the campaign centred real people and lived experiences, allowing members of Poz Vibe Tribe to be visible in a way that felt honest, human, and empowering.
Because visibility matters.
Not only in campaigns, but in everyday life.
Poz Vibe Tribe has built spaces where people can connect through more than just awareness. From Pride events and community gatherings to film screenings and social meet-ups, the group understands something deeply important:
Stigma is not only challenged through information.
It’s challenged through human connection.
Their work also highlights voices that are often overlooked, including LGBTQ+ communities and immigrants living in Ireland. Initiatives like Portuguese-language podcast episodes for the Brazilian community help create accessibility and representation for people who may otherwise feel disconnected from conversations around HIV and sexual health.
Storytelling continues to be one of the strongest tools in this work.
Projects like How to Tell a Secret and Pregnant with a Drag Queen helped bring real experiences of HIV into Irish homes, showing the emotional realities behind disclosure, identity, stigma, resilience, and acceptance.
In 2025, Poz Vibe Tribe partnered with Gay Community News - GCN to help deliver Ireland’s first World AIDS Day Festival - a major moment for community-led HIV advocacy in the country.
The festival created space not only for education, but for remembrance, visibility, art, and solidarity. Through film premieres, public campaigns, community events, the message became clear:
HIV is not what it once was.
And the stigma surrounding it shouldn’t be either.
For me personally, being part of Poz Vibe Tribe has been deeply meaningful.
It reminded me that even though we all experience HIV differently, there is something powerful about being surrounded by people who understand parts of your journey without needing every word explained.
Community creates space for courage.
And sometimes, simply seeing someone else living openly and fully can change the way we see ourselves too.
Because in the end, HIV is only one part of the story.
And there is still a whole life beyond it.
- With love, Phellipe
Poz Vibe Tribe | Rewriting the Narrative Around HIV in Ireland
Get Support in Ireland:
Sexual Health:
Poz Vibe Tribe - Poz Vibe Podcast
Poz Vibe Instagram
Dublin-based social enterprise and community
collective dedicated to uplifting people living with HIV
and dismantling the surrounding social stigma.
SH:24
A free online sexual health service, delivered
in partnership with the HSE.
Guide Clinic
Ireland's largest free clinic for Sexually
Transmitted Infections (STIs), HIV, and Infectious Diseases.
Mental Health:
Pieta
24-Hour Crisis Helpline: 1800 247 247 or Text HELP to 51444
Text About It
WhatsApp
Text - 086 1800 280
Samaritans
Call: 116 123