Today has been an absolutely crazy day. In the morning I went to have a meeting with Equal Education, which is the NGO that I will be working with over the next few months. They work to try to improve the education situation in the country which is characterized by great inequalities. For example, in government-funded public schools, the average ratio of scholars (known as "learners" in terms of the country's outcomes-based education system) to teachers ("educators") is 32.6 to one, while private schools generally have one teacher for every 17.5 scholars. They are mainly activist and researches who demand more funding and more resources for the the public schools of South Africa. They are based in Khayelitsha which is the biggest township in Cape Town. Although no one really knows how many people live there it is estimated that between 600,000 and over 1 million live there. As time goes by, I'll be writing more about what I will be doing and my work, etc.
But let me get to the real juicy staff. When we were being interviewed by the people at Equal education, they mentioned that there was a public meeting on HIV/AIDS was happening in one of the clinics in Khayelitsha and they asked us if we wanted to go. So we went. And it was amazing. Many important people were there. First of all, the South African's Health Minister, Barbara Hogan, who has been an anti-apartheid activist. Before her, the Minister was Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who believed that HIV/AIDS could be treated with garlic, lemon, and olive oil. So, Barbara Hogan seems to be doing a much better job and seems to be very clear, sincere, and open about HIV/AIDS. She spoke with clarity: if South Africa is to combat HIV/AIDS then many things have to change. For example, she mentioned that people need to stop having multiple partners, men have to stop raping women, people have to stop having unprotected sex. It was great, and very inspiring to see her.
Although we did not get to hear him speak, the main person in the event was the newly appointed Executive Director of UNAIDS, Mr Michel Sidibé. Basically, one of the most important people in the HIV/AIDS arena. Here is the link to UNAIDS website. It’s still crazy to think I was there.
http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/Resources/FeatureStories/archive/2009/20090210_SA.asp
Finally, the most exciting part was to see Zackie Achmat who is a South African activist who is the founder and chairman of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). It was great to see him because I have written papers on him and read about TAC. I always follow their work and I’m very inspired by them. Actually, last night, I was reading about him…so it was craaazy to see him. Although I did not talk to him, I was told that he is in the board of directors of Equal Education which means that I will have the chance to meet him.
It was important to understand why they chose this particular Khayelitsha clinic. This is what the UNAIDS wrote about it:
The public meeting took place at the Ubuntu Clinic which treats tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. With a TB/HIV co-infection rate of around 70 % in Khayelitsha, this clinic allows patients to register for both TB and antiretroviral treatments. Given that TB accounts for an estimated 13% of AIDS deaths worldwide, it’s vital to ensure that people living with HIV have access to TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The Ubuntu Clinic’s model of "service integration" has since spread to other clinics across the township. The Ubuntu Clinic ran the first programme on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission in South Africa and has provided antiretroviral treatment to approximately 20,000 people.
It was absolutely fascinating to see so many people cheering and sharing their positive energy. Every time it was someone’s turn to speak, people would stand up and start singing and dancing, it was beautiful. I didn’t bring my camera but my friend did so I will put a picture up as soon as she sends it to me.
Although I will mainly be working with the education aspect, I hope to get involved with HIV/AIDS activism and activities in general. I already signed up for the TAC group here on campus and I’m really excited (the girl who heads it seems really cool and she spent one year in Argentina so she was practicing her Spanish with me, hehe.).
Uf, what a day.
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