|
Welcome to the site where we celebrate ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help their communities deal with the HIV and AIDS epidemic.
These people are truly AIDSbuzz Champions - they have made AIDS their business by dedicating their time and talents to helping those worst hit by the disease. We chose the word champion carefully. It means a conqueror, a hero, a victor and a winner. It also describes a person who fights for a cause or another person. Both of these descriptions fit the people we have chosen to honour perfectly.
Some of our Champions are infected with HIV but have not allowed their disease to defeat them. Instead they have decided to speak openly about their status and try to prevent others from becoming infected like themselves. Our other Champions are fighting tirelessly to uplift and better the lives of those who have been affected by the epidemic. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
In a scenario that will be increasingly repeated all over the country, as the number of orphans and vulnerable children escalates, the centre of Howick in KwaZulu-Natal became the operating ground of a pack of wayward street children. Tourists and residents were regularly harassed by these ragged and filthy children, who hung around outside the shops and at street corners, begging for money and food. Worse still, tourists visiting the nearby Howick Falls were being robbed in broad daylight and these children, somewhat unfairly, were invariably blamed. Feelings against the children were running high. (In the Photo: The Khazimula soccer team with Father Mvuyo and Jabulile in the car, and Siyabonga on the front outside left.) |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Imagine being told that you are not only pregnant but HIV-positive as well. For the hundreds of thousands of South African women who have received this news, there has been little support from overworked clinic staff, and frequently little or no support from their families or communities either. Who then could they turn to for help, or to answer all their questions? How do I tell my partner or my family? What happens if they throw me out? Will my baby have the disease too? How can I protect my baby? How soon will I become sick? Who will look after my baby if I die? |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Mama Albina Maleka is 64 years old, an age when most people think of retiring. After working for 40 years as a nurse, Ma Albina had certainly earned her right to a relaxing and peaceful retirement. But this resourceful, caring woman simply could not stand back and ignore the desperate plight of the families affected by HIV and AIDS in her community of Tembisa. She therefore started a home-based care group called Helping Hand in 2001. Armed only with gloves and antiseptic donated by the local clinic Ma Albina started caring for five patients in their own homes. Today she and her team of 21 caregivers make home visits to 60 patients a week. The organisation also looks after 70 orphans in the community. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
