Victoria Girls’ Primary School has started a new partnership with the Raphael Centre whereby the school distributes food and other essential items, such as toiletries, to the centre, which assists people living with HIV/Aids.
Victoria Girls’ Primary School has started a new partnership with the Raphael Centre whereby the school distributes food and other essential items, such as toiletries, to the centre, which assists people living with HIV/Aids.
Acting Principal of VGPS, Colette Kaiser, says that they formed a caring committee three years ago, with the objective of donating money from charity events, like civvies days, to charity organisations in Grahamstown.
The Raphael Centre initiative was inspired by Mandela Day.
Boniwe Mgambu* who has been a client of the Raphael Centre since 2001, says that even though the groceries don’t last them a month it helps her and her family a lot as they can’t afford to buy them. She was diagnosed with HIV in 1998, the year in which she gave birth to her daughter, also HIV positive.
Nikiwe Sita* is another client of the Raphael Centre, and has been since 2004. She says that the food has helped feed her and her three children. She was diagnosed with HIV in 2004 and has started using ARVs last week .Her six–year-old daughter has also been diagnosed with HIV, and the Raphael Centre has really helped them to cope, she says.
Nola Elliot, who works for the centre, says that all the items they received from Victorial Girls’ Primary School are essential for children and parents who live with HIV.
The centre takes care of 200 HIV-positive children, under the Early Childhood Project. "This project is aimed at educating them about HIV and teaching them about prevention strategies," says Elliot.
*not their real names
