My Unexpected Life

At age 28 Martina Clark was told she had HIV and five years to live. With a sense nothing to lose she dove into activism and unexpectedly fell into an international career starting as the first openly HIV-positive person to work for UNAIDS. A mix of personal memoir travel humor and an up-close look at the squishy underbelly of the United Nations My Unexpected Life follows her personal journey-emotional and physical-interwoven with her professional path. From diagnosis to starting treatment surviving an abusive marriage and fostering a teenage daughter Martinas memoir adds an insiders view to the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Throughout she draws parallels to the COVID pandemic reflecting on her experiences as she journeys through life with an incurable illness a well-stamped passport and a stubborn determination that keeps her alive to bear witness to the human condition.