Our office has received correspondence about the column I wrote last week to voice my displeasure at the treatment I was subjected to by a representative of my medical aid.

Our office has received correspondence about the column I wrote last week to voice my displeasure at the treatment I was subjected to by a representative of my medical aid.

I hasten to add that most of what I wrote was not favourable. In fact, it broadly questioned the pathetic service generally rendered to clients by everything from restaurants to government institutions such as clinics and private entities.

Nevertheless, I am pleased to inform you that my strong objection had not gone unnoticed. I am thankful for the prompt response from the individual at fault as well as my medical aid.

I must also express my sincere gratitude to each and everyone for their continued support and generous offers of solidarity.

For the record, I am in possession of a letter of apology from the person involved and I am hopeful that such an unfortunate incident will be avoided at all costs in future.

"To err is human but to forgive is divine," is the guiding principle as we all seek to find justice and collectively attempt to defend our individual dignity and freedom to live and be treated equally.

I am truly humbled to realise that some of us are able to rise above the challenges of conflict, differences and disharmony to accept that the future is far more important than an inconsequential pursuit of personal glory at the expense of a better future for all of us.

When I answered the call from the official at the medical aid offices I knew immediately that pride, and defending it, was of no particular interest to me and would not make any difference in resolving the stalemate.

So as the aggrieved party I felt obliged to create an enabling environment for the accused to be able to respond in the affirmative.

More often than not, particularly as a massive community of people living with HIV, we find it almost impossible to make and find peace not only with ourselves but with those whom we feel, rightly or wrongly, continue to take us for granted.

But I have consistently found that there is a greater lesson to be learnt from the aftermath of conflict and aggravating pain and strife only if we open ourselves and each other to such a possibility.

As much as the ball remains in the offender's court to initiate the peace process, I also believe that there is profound honour and immense blessings in forgiving unreservedly.

So I feel privileged and truly blessed that I have smoked the peace pipe with the said official and I can bet my bottom Zim dollar that our bond will be much stronger, not only for my own benefit but also for the betterment of providing an exceptional service to all our people.

This incident has also served as a reminder me that I must remain simple and humble in my dealings with others to ensure that the infected lives of all our people, especially those less privileged than most us, is improved.