Sign up at the Siyaphumelela HIV/Aids Youth Club in Joza, and receive a free cellphone. The catch? Attending all camps and group meetings.
Sign up at the Siyaphumelela HIV/Aids Youth Club in Joza, and receive a free cellphone. The catch? Attending all camps and group meetings.
Young people between the ages of 14 and 18, infected or affected by HIV/Aids, can join the club to be part of a group who will support and encourage each other.
Twice a month they take part in various activities, including games, art projects, sport competitions, talent shows, watching videos and, at the end of the day, a raffle, with a voucher as prize. Organiser Gillian Caplan says other activities, such as game park drives and camps take the teenagers out of town and away from the stigma, to “just let them just be kids again.”
She says they want to show that there is life behind the virus. The idea of the cellphone reward is to teach teenagers that their positive actions will produce positive results, says Caplan. The purpose of the club is to spread the message of preventing and fighting the stigma of HIV/Aids, by giving teenagers positive information to boost positive attitudes.
Caplan’s message is clear: “They [young people with HIV/Aids], and not the virus, have control over their lives”. She is confident that by means of education, prevention, and support, these teenagers can form a crucial part of the community by overcoming the barriers and stigmas that HIV presents. Zukisa Stamper, 19, said the group encouraged him to make the right decisions.
A new member of the club, Sandisiwe Nombewu, 15, says she joined because she wanted to be part of a support group. After only two meetings of Siyaphumelela, which means 'we are succeeding', the group has 30 registered members, with 60 being the target membership. Newcomers sign a contract, committing them to the programme for a full year.
They are provided with a support system and a network of supportive people. Nondumiso Pinyana, co-ordinator of the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programme, says the idea is to start with small groups who will in turn influence the whole community.
Organisers are pleased with the number of teenagers showing up and Juba van Niekerk, Director of the Raphael Centre, which offers support to people affected by HIV/Aids, says the youth club is “taking off”. Gatherings are held every second Saturday at the Duna Library, in Joza.
For more information call Gillian Caplan at 071 301 6150 or Nondumiso Pinyana at 073 032 6898.
