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Coming Up From Down Under: A Visit To Australia
By
Phumzile Ndlovu
Phumzile Ndlovu, a HIVAN Researcher and much-loved community activist in Bergville, visited Australia towards the end of 2005. A report back on her trip follows.
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Phumzile Ndlovu
Photo by Ian Carbutt of The Witness
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My visit to Australia during late December 2005 and early January 2006 came about through a volunteer, Nurse Christine Mannel, being introduced to our partner organisation ? the Philakahle Project - by Dr John Schwartz and his wife Rosalie. Now based in Australia, Dr Schwartz was a Medical Superintendent at Emmaus Hospital 22 years ago, and has formed the African AIDS Foundation to support AIDS projects in South Africa.
After spending 10 months working with us in the field of HIV/AIDS, Christine invited me to visit Australia. Although I was very pleased to accept, the challenge was finding the money to cover the expenses of the trip, but help came through: the African AIDS Foundation paid towards my air-ticket one way, and Mandy Jacobs, who was my Director on my TV programme with loveLife, together with her cousin, paid for the return flight. Carolyn Crew, who was my TV producer, gave me a travel allowance to spend while I was in Australia. I value their contributions and friendship.
Speaking Engagements
The African AIDS Foundation had arranged for me to fulfill various speaking engagements with different media outlets so as to share my experiences within and around AIDS in South Africa. My first interviews were with the Australia newspaper and the national radio station; I gave talks at different Christmas party gatherings and at churches, and was able to connect personally with many individuals.
On many of these occasions, I did not exaggerate the perception that ?the so-called blacks are dying from poverty and AIDS?, although there are many social factors that contribute to death and poverty in my community. However, I felt real dismay when observing the living standards of rural Australian citizens in comparison with their South African counterparts; in fact, these comparisons made me very sad.
During my radio interview, the host led me through our talk with great skill. I spoke about the South African rural migrant labourers from our communities who, in early the ?90s, we observed returning to their families suffering from an unknown disease. These men would be sick for six months to one year and then die, leaving their wives to survive and take care of their children. Invariably, later the wife would die, so that only their children survived them. These orphans would fall under the care of their mamkhulu (elder sister of the mother) or with uGogo (the grandmother); in many cases it is Zulu custom that these women would assume the role of guardian, if not surrogate mother, to the children. These days, we are faced with an increasing number of older people who are responsible for the care and support of their grandchildren, nieces and nephews, with only a limited old-age pension grant to provide for their needs.
Other topics I touched on included levels of unemployment and standards of education in South Africa rural communities. In these settings, people are not employed because there are not enough job opportunities for them, and there is a high rate of school drop-outs, resulting in generally lower levels of education, and so creating more generations of unemployable youth. I noted the high rate of employment, good educational system, first-class public libraries and free computers available to young people in Australia, and I wept inside, thinking how much our youth would benefit from these infrastructural resources.
My intention in accepting these speaking engagements was not to beg from the people of Australia for funds, but to give them an idea of what is happening in other parts of the world. For me, in turn, it was an incredibly humbling process to see how prosperous and abundant Australia is. Nonetheless, the result was that I have come to appreciate my beautiful country, and especially my Drakensberg community, even more, because of the daily joy we share among us in the midst of deep suffering. We, who have so many hardships to contend with, are still able to live and lead our culture of sharing resources together and knowing one another. That is something to be proud of.
Although I spoke more about others in my life and work than my own profile, people asked me about my background, so I described for them my day-to?day activities and the research and intervention activities my organization delivers to the community. I distributed HIVAN?s community newsletter, Sondela (?coming closer?) so that more international audiences can gain a fuller perspective of the ways in which our local people uphold and build capacity in their own community, however small the arena or the impact of their actions.
Audience feedback
It was clear that many people?s hearts were touched by the information they received during my tour, and many came to me after my talks wanting to know more about South Africa, some of them having visited here and mentioning places that they knew. On my last day of engagements, I spoke to the Rotary Club (the members of which wealthy Australian businessmen who play sports and raise funds for charity). During my speech, I noticed that there was one table of men who did not agree with what I was saying, and talked over me until I was finished. The rest of the group showed interest and asked questions after the meeting. The Rotary Club President came to us (Peter Archer, the CEO of the African AIDS Foundation and myself) and invited Peter to attend their board meeting because they wanted to contribute funds to the Foundation.
In general, all I did was share my knowledge and stories about AIDS in my community and how HIV affects my country. Christine Mannel challenged her people to extend support to other countries needing resources for coping with the epidemic.
Highlights of my tour
I was asked to speak to 600 nuns from different parts of the world at a Christmas Carol Service on the 16 th December. I really enjoyed testifying about my personal life to such a big audience and sang a Zulu traditional song, which the crowd loved. The Toronga Zoo was another special experience for me, as it was the first time I?ve ever visited a zoo and it was very large. I was so humbled and excited to see all the animals that I?d never seen before - the koala bears, orangatang, platypus and snakes. All the fear of the animals instilled in me by parents and society just disappeared.
Lessons I learned
This generation of South African youth has observed deep suffering, watching their family members dying, and many of them dropping out from school to care and support their parents. We cannot continue in the way. I pray that ARV treatment will turn the tide of HIV/AIDS in our country, and that those who are now receiving the drugs continue to adhere to their medication. I hope that government will change its strategy and give children and young people high-quality education and job opportunities, so that we can build a society free from poverty and illness. We should not have to depend on global funds; we should be forming and growing partnerships and networks of sharing among ourselves, instead of creating dependency, which is not sustainable. I believe we can do this.
On reflection
Since childhood, I have dreamed of doing unusual work that would have an impact on people?s lives. I would imagine myself as a successful black woman, well-educated and assisting others in meeting their daily challenges. I thank God for changing the course of my sad early life into greatness, and for His help in turning my dreams into reality.
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