The Chris Hani District Municipality is on its toes this week as it hard at work on this year’s AIDS candle light memorial. The memorial programme is packed with social activity all the way towards the main event that is to take place on Friday, 15 May 2009 at Ingcobo Indoor Sports Centre. This year’s theme is “together we are the solution” and is founded on the basis of the overall programme goal of strengthening the collective efforts in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
The theme marks the 26 Anniversary of the historic International AIDS candle light memorial. For 26 years, the candle light memorial has brought people together in every region of the world to honour those lost to AIDS and demonstrate the importance of civil society, a movement to counter the spread of the disease. Various government departments have taken responsibility and contributed with both their human and material resources to ensure the success of this year’s programme.
“The candlelight memorial is also more than just a memorial. It is an opportunity to educate about HIV and AIDS, advocate for policy change, foster partnerships and community dialogue, and improve skills for community mobilisation,” said Mrs V Kolo, one of the programme coordinators.
More than 200 volunteers from the Chris Hani District Municipality are hard at work on the door to door campaign that is taking place in the hosting local municipality. The target is to reach at least one thousand households over a four day period. The volunteers conduct surveys on each household that they visit. That seeks to find out the socio-economic needs of the particular household. The purpose is to analyse the impact of their respective environments in their lives and any possible link to AIDS.
Growth in the number of child headed house holds has been indicated as well as increase on the number of AIDS orphans under the care of relatives and extended family members. Nomvula Ngalo, a fifty five year old grandmother of three AIDS orphans said, “For the last two years I have been taking care of my late daughter’s three children. I am now left with another responsibility to also take care of my younger sister’s two children as my sister past away last month due to AIDS related illnesses. That adds to my own burden of five children and my unemployed husband.” Nomvula is also unemployed and she sells brooms for a living.
Parallel to the campaign, there is a strategic process in place to form ward AIDS councils. Part of their daily responsibility is to sustain the door to door campaign and encourage synergy amongst all the critical role-players at the lowest level of the community. An ongoing programme to that effect has already been drawn where it is expected that a volunteer visits at least five households per day. They will then compile a weekly report and submit it to the ward councillor every Friday of each week.
The reports will then be forwarded to the Mayor for immediate interventions and to address identified challenges. The campaign is coupled with government services on wheels from South African Social Security (SASSA), Social Development, Health, Home Affairs and others. Synergy from ward councillors, volunteers, community development workers, youth organisations, traditional leadership, faith based organisations, local school governing bodies, Engcobo Local Municipality, district Aids council under the leadership of the Chris Hani District Municipality and the support from the Office of the Premier has shown positive results.
Candle Light Memorial 2009 is perceived to be the biggest and most successful mainly because of an increase on the number of role players. Also because there is a strategic process put in place to align government programmes with the campaign. Therefore government programmes are able to respond directly to people’s needs as and when needed.
Enquiries:
Zamikhaya Nkonzo
Tel: 040 609 6042
Fax: 086 523 7068
E-mail: zamikhaya.nkonzo@otp.ecprov.gov.za
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
14 May 2009
Source: Office of the Premier, Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecprov.gov.za/)
