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Babiza?’s Story - The Reality of HIV/AIDS from a Child?’s Point of View
UNESCO Press Release. 01 December 2004
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On the occasion of the World AIDS Day, UNESCO is launching a new publication, Babiza?’s Story. It is the story told by a nine-year-old South-African boy, whose mother is HIV positive, of how it is to grow up in a community ravaged by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, in the peri-urban area of KwaZulu-Natal.
Babiza tells his family?’s story forthrightly, sharing his hopes and fears and the strength he has gained by reaching out to his family, friends and a support group organized by the local hospital. The text is in English and Zulu, with photographs of Babiza and his community, and colour drawings by the young author himself.
Babiza?’s Story, through its simplicity and straightforwardness, should help children in similar circumstances by inspiring them to tell their own stories, and overcome the emotional trauma that comes from living with family-members with HIV/AIDS.
The book is the first in a series entitled ?“By Children For Children Through Books?”, which enables children to share their stories of courage, creativity and resilience with other children. It is inspired by the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which states that children have the right to freedom of expression in a variety of media, including print and art, and the right to a voice in matters that affect them.
The series is produced by the MOST Programme of UNESCO and the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking at the University of Kwazulu-Natal (HIVAN). The initiative springs from the Growing Up in Cities (GUIC) project of UNESCO-MOST involving young people around the world in evaluating and improving the places where they live. It is coordinated by Jill Kruger, Deputy Director at HIVAN (Social and Behavioural Sciences) and South African Director of GUIC.
When launching his book in South Africa, during November, Babiza said: "I used to think that I was the only child with a mother who is HIV positive. When I was able to join a youth support group I found out that lots of children have a parent who is HIV positive and some of them have parents who have died from AIDS?…I feel happy because the youth support group has answered the questions that I had before". |
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