Youth in Dialogue - Nelson Mandela Foundation

Interview with Mlu, 15
Les
Ja, tell me what’s going on my
man, what’s wrong, what’s up
in Mhluzi
Mlu
I think one of the problems that
we are faced with concerning
the youth is ignorance. I
think we need to realise that
today’s youth, they don’t care
anymore about life, what they
care about is the short-term
time. I have friends, they say I
must drink liquor, let me drink
liquor. We don’t think about
the consequences, what that
might bring tomorrow.
Why are we ignoring HIV/
AIDS Themba mentioned the
fact it might be how it was
introduced. The first time I
knew AIDS it was because of
Nkosi Johnson. Nkosi Johnson
was about to die or was thin,
that image is still in my mind
that, okay, when I have AIDS
obviously I’m going to lose
weight, all that pain and
everything. So how it was
introduced, it was introduced
as this disease, as a killer, as a
murderer, if I have HIV/AIDS,
I’m already dead. It would
be better if I kill myself. It
was introduced as a killer,
not as TB.
Les
How do we change this
now and create a different
perspective now that we know
that it’s not a killer
Mlu
First thing: HIV was
introduced as a killer but not
as any other disease where
“I’m affected with TB, I’ll take
treatment and life goes on.” But
I’m sure you’ve heard some
of the people in the dialogue,
they were saying HIV kills.
You heard the DJ, Solly, saying
HIV kills, abstain, be faithful,
condomise or you will die. We
have people living with HIV/
AIDS who are healthy, who are
happy with their lives. Don’t
take HIV/AIDS as a killer but
take it as a friend.
Les
So it’s also a perception in how
do we address issues when
we talk to each other as peers
We must not try to kill each
other when we talk, we must
build each other when we talk;
constructive conversations.
Mlu
And another thing is that HIV,
it’s a stigma. Nowadays, you
Interview with Mlu, Mhluzi.
case
study:
Mhluzi
have AIDS, it’s a disgrace. I
don’t want you as a friend,
I don’t want you near me.
That’s why, when you asked
the question, “can a mosquito
infect you” some people
were saying yes, some were
saying no. What I’m saying is
that we have the information,
the media is there, we have
television, we have radio, these
guys are doing a talk show but
the youth are the ones lacking.
They don’t listen to that talk
show, why, because they say
it’s boring. I know what I’m
doing and what I’m doing now
is I must booze, I must go to
bashes, but they don’t think
36 YOUTH IN DIALOGUE