Sign in or 
Location: Advocacy and Educational Events
Discussion: Advocacy Event: HIV/AIDS Youth Program Launch, South Africa
Category:
Discussion Forum /
General Discussion
Share this
Showing 3 posts
alizawaxman |
Advocacy Event: HIV/AIDS Youth Program Launch, South Africa
Mar 25 2009, 8:41 AM EDT
I am now in my third month working in South Africa with the American International Health Alliance’s HIV/AIDS Twinning Center as an Organizational Development Specialist. During this time I have worked with three HIV/AIDS related NGO’s in the Western Cape. Do you find this valuable?
Keyword tags:
None
|
|
alizawaxman |
1. RE: Advocacy Event: HIV/AIDS Youth Program Launch, South Africa
Mar 25 2009, 8:41 AM EDT
The first organization I was placed with, Masibambane Community Project, is a small community HIV/AIDS support group in St. Helena Bay, a small and desolate fishing village on the west coast of South Africa. When I arrived, the organization was involved with a small sewing project for income generation in the community, but their HIV/AIDS support group was virtually non-existent. I spent the month working with the project manager to try and identify internal resources that could be used to initiate the program.In a community such as Laingville, St. Helena Bay, with its high rate of HIV/AIDS and very little economic activity, all that was there was a liquor store and a small “china” shop. This community desperately needed a community driven support group, specifically for the youth. The youth in the community include very talented performers in dance and music as well as in arts and crafts. The children needed an internally generated support group where they could motivate one another to succeed and to take ownership of their future. The stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS in the Laingville community was very high, which is why there was barely any HIV/AIDS education available to the community. During the course of our work we discovered that empowering the children to take ownership of these issues would allow for real change to be implemented. Do you find this valuable? |
|
alizawaxman |
2. RE: Advocacy Event: HIV/AIDS Youth Program Launch, South Africa
Mar 25 2009, 8:44 AM EDT
After developing an action plan for Masibambane Community Project, I left St. Helena Bay for my next assignment, in Khayelitsha Township, just outside of Cape Town, South Africa. However, I returned to St. Helena Bay on March 27th to see the launch of the newly established HIV/AIDS support program. The event began with an AIDS vigil and prayer for those from the community who had died of HIV/AIDS. Various groups of children from the community performed dance routines. The children were extraordinarily talented, making the loss of their talent and skills to be even more upsetting. If they only had an outlet to exercise their talents, they would have a greater sense of purpose laid out for them. The goal of this program is to create a healthy future for the youth in this community, and I am hopeful that this program will be a great success. Do you find this valuable? |
