Nsofwa Petronella Sampa

Nsofwa Petronella Sampa is a Zambian HIV activist and clinical psychological counselor. Sampa's work focuses on working with people living with HIV and disabilities. She is a recipient of a Mandela Washington Fellowship, YALI participant and a PEPFAR beneficiary. After discovering her health status as being HIV positive, Sampa began to advocate for persons living with HIV/AIDS.

Early life and education

Sampa was born in Zambia, a country which has a generalized HIV epidemic. Her father died in 1994 when she was 2 years old and her mother died in 2002 when Sampa was only 10 years old. Sampa's uncle then became her guardian, and she moved in with him. Sampa took medication every day without knowing why she was taking it or what it was for, or why her cousins living in the same house did not do the same, Sampa is a trained Psychosocial and Clinical Counselor who has lived with HIV for 26 years. Her blindness resulted from opportunistic infections including tuberculosis and meningitis due to poor adherence to antiretroviral therapy when she was stigmatized in school.

Awards and honours In 2014, she was a beneficiary of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. In 2017, she won a Mandela Washington Fellowship from the Young African Leaders Initiative which enabled her to undertake training in civic leadership in the US.