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On 16 June 1976, South Africa's youth were in a perilous position: under the apartheid regime, their future prospects held no promise of hope, their past had been bleak and belittling, and their present was a reality so depressing that, literally, they had nothing to lose - so they took a stand in demanding recognition and support, rising up in Soweto and irrevocably changing the face of South African history. In 2002, our youth are still in need of recognition and support, but for a different peril. As one of society's sectors most vulnerable to the spread of HIV infection, they need to know that they are not alone, that they are cherished as our hope for the future and that their wellbeing is a critical factor in our struggle against the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
In honour of June 2002 as Youth Month, we asked two deeply committed individuals working in the field of HIV/AIDS on NU campuses, and more broadly in KwaZulu-Natal, to give voice to the concerns and commitment that our young people are expressing around HIV/AIDS. In the following Guest Editorials, Sibusiso Xaba, a postgraduate student at UND and social activist, writes about the need for effective leadership, both amongst the youth and their elders, in the fight to mitigate the spread of HIV infection, while psychologist Michelle Mitchell stresses the importance of personal identification with the epidemic as a means for all generations to confront the epidemic.
"Umthente uhlab' usamila"- Beyond Youth Day 2002
by Sibusiso Xaba
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Sibusiso Xaba
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Throughout the world's history, young people (the most vulnerable members of society) have - with a visible leadership - spearheaded struggles against oppression. They have faced danger, created their own resources and sacrificed their youth in the hope that a new order would emerge for subsequent generations.
This month in South Africa, we honour those who fought and fell on 16 June 1976, but if we examine the prevailing social landscape, the vision of our predecessors has not been realised. Language was the key issue that sparked the Soweto uprising in 1976 - but today, African languages are not accorded any status as "languages of learning" in our educational institutions. While we have both national and provincial Youth Commissions in place, what do these structures do for young people who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS? How many young people are languishing in jails, and when released, cannot be employed because of stigma? How many young people are used by the wealthy for their own gratification? How many young people have died of AIDS, having been infected by their elders or because the government is reluctant to legislate the importation of generic drugs? How many young people have no education because they cannot afford fees? What is owned and driven by today's youth?
Youth leadership is what is lacking in the present century. Education for leadership goes beyond understanding concepts within lecture theatres and passing examinations - it is the capacity to distill solutions to the problems of humanity, in both scholarly and practical ways. However, these problems cannot be solved on a global scale without addressing those prevailing at a local level, and in this regard, our power is curtailed. For example, what are we youth to make of the mixed signals emitted by our parliamentarians today? They abuse their own wives and children, live in luxury and pay lip-service to youth projects, but expect us to live as exemplars of high ethics. Media-managed programmes promote uncontrolled sex but, without alternative resources, we are called upon to be the vanguard of moral regeneration.
Education, which is meant to empower the youth to free themselves from oppressive measures, has not unshackled young people from the scourge of HIV/AIDS. This month, thousands of learners will be "home for the holidays" without temporary jobs or structures for involvement in HIV/AIDS community projects. All of our society knows that orphans of AIDS are legion, and that the majority of them have had to leave school, yet there are no comprehensive, nationwide plans in place to assist them.
HIV/AIDS, because it unfolds rather than merely happens, is the most complex and unique epidemic of the century - illness descends long after one gets infected. Our youth, as leaders in the making, need to have some stake in our own future; in IsiZulu, it is said that "umthente uhlab' usamila"- the grass prickles whilst it grows. We need to visit HIV/AIDS projects and be fully involved in our own communities' struggle against the epidemic. We need to know and to publicise what is happening to youth with disabilities - how do we involve them in lifelong change strategies and integrate them into HIV/AIDS initiatives?
Our destiny as a nation demands concerted involvement in and action against HIV/AIDS - anything less would be a betrayal of the youth of South Africa and the world. The rampant abuse of our children and young people must be reversed as a matter of emergency. Community awareness programmes and bureaucratic support systems are not enough - if we as a global force have a vision of a positive future, what is needed is a fundamental reverence for our youth as national treasures, to be guarded, nurtured and guided into a life beyond 2002.
Sibusiso Xaba is reading for a Postgraduate Diploma in Community Development at UND. He is a member of the UND Students' HIV/AIDS Working Group, the Roots and Shoots Society and youth leader of the UND Students African Renaissance Chapter.
Personalising HIV/AIDS : Beyond Youth Day 2002
By Michelle Mitchell
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Michelle Mitchell
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The HIV/AIDS epidemic threatens to rob our nation of its youth - the very people for whom the anti-apartheid struggle was so hard-won. The present generation of leaders in South Africa has grown up with some awareness of the burgeoning disease syndrome, but our 10-year-old perspectives on HIV/AIDS may not equip us to act as effective role models in the fight against the spread of HIV infection. For these reasons, our society needs to unite across all age-groups to face down the challenges of the epidemic - and above all, to listen to and engage with young people in devising strategies to combat it.
Studies have shown that it is difficult for young people to decide on what they should believe about HIV/AIDS. They are bombarded with varying messages about how to prevent infection - the media tells them to condomise, the churches would rather that they abstain from sex before marriage, their parents and elders would like them to be faithful, politicians flood them with controversial statistics - and the efficacy of every measure and message is disputed by opposing stakeholders.
As a result, young people are compelled to construct their own philosophical and cognitive frameworks for responding to HIV/AIDS. These approaches include "It's better not to know my status - if I'm going to die anyway, why deny myself some years of enjoyment and acceptance?", and "People with HIV/AIDS are immoral", and "America has a cure for HIV/AIDS, but they're keeping it until everyone is infected and then they can take over Africa", and "You can see when someone has HIV/AIDS" & with the only consequence of these myths and justifications being increased stigma, fear and a failure to personalise the disease.
Faced with all this confusion, young people fall back on the simplest approach of all - responding to their natural urges and engaging in unprotected sex.
Those of us in positions of leadership may be older, but we are not necessarily wiser in terms of HIV/AIDS and its effects on the younger generations. If we want to inspire, protect and support them, we need to reflect on our own experiences and be innovative. We need to stop making assumptions and listen attentively to the youth, assisting and encouraging genuine, mutually respectful dialogue around the subject of HIV/AIDS. We need to descend from our adult-theoretical-academic pedestals and talk to them about our own feelings - what it was like for us to be afraid of making an important decision, what it was like for us "the first time", what we have learned from making mistakes in life - and having the courage to take an HIV test ourselves.
There are many wonderful young people who are utterly dedicated to mitigating the spread of HIV amongst their own circles and communities. They need our acknowledgement and support in implementing structures that are devised, driven and owned by the youth themselves. We also need to help them to sustain these structures, so that piecemeal, ineffective measures do not result in damaged relationships and broken trust between the generations and stakeholders.
The University of KwaZulu-Natal is committed to providing a supportive, safe environment from and through which this dialogue can emerge and flourish. Universities are educational institutions wherein learning is not confined to lofty lectures and academic assignments - the lessons inherent in the "higher education" experience involve developing oneself, whether as an individual or as a member of wider society and the nation's human heritage, and these lessons are just as critical as good marks and perfect attendance records. At Natal University, staff and students alike are motivated and able to offer our young people the knowledge and information required to make well-informed decisions about HIV/AIDS, as well as the skills to facilitate such decision-making processes.
Apart from the physical onslaught that HIV/AIDS exerts on the body, silence and fear are the epidemic's most formidable weapons. No-one is invulnerable to it, and unless every one of us, no matter how old we are, makes HIV/AIDS a personal issue, and opens it up to discussion and compassion, we will lose the nation so many died to create.
Michelle Mitchell is Natal University's Interim HIV/AIDS Programme Manager. She is a qualified psychologist with extensive experience in student counselling and academic project co-ordination.
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