Thato was seven years old when first his father and a little later his mother died. Both had AIDS. The grandmother took in her three grandchildren. Today, 18-year-old Thato is one of 54 peer educators in the South African city of Mahikeng.
Peer educators are trained young people who engage in conversations with other youths to educate them on topics such as HIV and AIDS or gender-based violence, which is widespread. More than half of the girls and women in South Africa experience sexual violence in the course of their lives. The risk of contracting HIV is very high, especially for girls and young women, and is still the main reason for the HIV epidemic in South Africa. Yet most girls do not get infected by boys of the same age. They are victims of sexual exploitation by older men. Education is therefore urgently needed and is provided by peer educators.
HIV and inadequate healthcare in South Africa
Southern Africa was severely affected by the global HIV pandemic in the 1990s. To prevent further spread, the Tsibogang Christian Action Group was founded in Mahikeng. Until today, Tsibogang takes care of people living with HIV and their relatives. But prevention is also very important. The team trains peer educators like Thato, who in turn educate children and adolescents in schools.
The problem of HIV and AIDS is now compounded by the devastating economic and social consequences of the Corona pandemic. While 14 million South African households did not have enough to eat before Corona, this number doubled during the pandemic. Many families supported by Tsibogang have also been affected. In the Mahikeng area, the unemployment rate is well over 50 percent. Many men who cannot fulfil their role as breadwinners of the family take refuge in alcohol.
Violence in families
Domestic violence is part of everyday life in the poverty-stricken world of many families. The peer educators talk about the causes of this violence, engage in group discussions especially with men and suggest solutions. Boys, but also girls, should learn to become equal adults who respect their partners and make responsible decisions regarding their sexual life in order to prevent further HIV infections.
In addition to education, the children and young people receive lunch in their schools - which is the only meal of the day for many of them. Afternoon care offers at least temporary protection from a violent family environment.
Encouraging successes
Tsibogang supports people living with HIV and AIDS together with their families through home-based caregivers. These build a trusting relationship with the families, advise and accompany them, and at the same time keep an eye on the children in the families to ensure that they are doing well. And of course they make sure that people who are ill take their medication regularly.
The successes achieved so far show that the work of Tsibogang is worthwhile! DIFÄM also supports similar programmes in other African countries. With your donation you can support them, thus ensuring a better, healthier future for children, young people and adults in Mahikeng - and far beyond.
