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Youth in Dialogue - Nelson Mandela Foundation

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of the people <strong>in</strong> the area are<br />

<strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> dat<strong>in</strong>g. I talk to<br />

them and as we speak most of<br />

them are dr<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g alcohol, so<br />

it’s like someth<strong>in</strong>g normal.<br />

Les<br />

They tell you that they won’t<br />

listen to you.<br />

So it’s difficult to face a<br />

person and tell them that<br />

whatever they are do<strong>in</strong>g is<br />

wrong and they will talk to<br />

you the way they want to as<br />

we have freedom of speech<br />

and it’s their right, that’s the<br />

way we live.<br />

I usually tell the kids I<br />

coach that you choose for<br />

yourself whether you live a<br />

good life or live an abnormal<br />

life, and by do<strong>in</strong>g that you<br />

have to ask yourself: how<br />

do you benefit from whatever<br />

you’re do<strong>in</strong>g And if it doesn’t<br />

benefit you, just leave it and<br />

do someth<strong>in</strong>g that will<br />

benefit you.<br />

Les<br />

What is your personal<br />

commitment now to make sure<br />

the HIV doesn’t spread any<br />

Veronica <strong>in</strong> the Soshanguve group <strong>in</strong>terview.<br />

more than it has What are you<br />

go<strong>in</strong>g to do from now on<br />

Zachariah<br />

I can try to talk to people that<br />

I meet. I make sure that I tell<br />

him or her about how bad<br />

HIV/AIDS is. Every time you<br />

meet someone, before you leave<br />

them, make sure that you just<br />

say “Do you know” Just give<br />

him advice on how HIV kills.<br />

Les<br />

And you’re go<strong>in</strong>g to focus on<br />

people that are younger than<br />

you because they are easier to<br />

handle<br />

Zachariah<br />

I’m go<strong>in</strong>g to focus on<br />

everybody that I talk to. When<br />

I talk to somebody I’ll make<br />

sure that I must talk about<br />

HIV/AIDS because if we’re<br />

not go<strong>in</strong>g to talk about it, it’s<br />

someth<strong>in</strong>g that will <strong>in</strong>crease.<br />

We just ignore it, we don’t talk<br />

about it but if we can talk more<br />

about it then it will stop.<br />

Les<br />

Tell me about you, your<br />

background, what<br />

would you like to tell<br />

me about<br />

Veronica<br />

Right now we are<br />

do<strong>in</strong>g a door-to-door<br />

campaign for World<br />

AIDS Day, I’m a<br />

volunteer from the<br />

Institute of Primary<br />

Health (IPH). I work<br />

for Luvuyo, it’s an<br />

orphanage, and IPH is<br />

an organisation.<br />

Les<br />

What are the th<strong>in</strong>gs<br />

that you see that<br />

put people <strong>in</strong> your<br />

community at risk<br />

Challenges<br />

Veronica<br />

The first challenge is the fact<br />

that people know what’s<br />

go<strong>in</strong>g on but the m<strong>in</strong>ute you<br />

come and start talk<strong>in</strong>g about<br />

HIV, people pretend that they<br />

don’t know anyth<strong>in</strong>g and then<br />

make you a fool. They will ask<br />

you about the myths. When<br />

you go to some of the people’s<br />

houses, they will tell you that<br />

you’re <strong>in</strong>fect<strong>in</strong>g their house<br />

with AIDS.<br />

Women are mostly <strong>in</strong>fected<br />

with HIV because they are<br />

tak<strong>in</strong>g care of their kids and<br />

their kids are not tell<strong>in</strong>g them<br />

the truth about what’s wrong<br />

with them, they tell them they<br />

have TB.<br />

Les<br />

You are say<strong>in</strong>g the women are<br />

HIV-positive<br />

Veronica<br />

Yes, because most of them have<br />

been <strong>in</strong>fected by their children,<br />

because they take care of<br />

them, bathe them, and the kid<br />

is not tell<strong>in</strong>g them the truth<br />

about what they really have.<br />

The challenge we get is that<br />

most of the young people like<br />

experiment<strong>in</strong>g with th<strong>in</strong>gs that<br />

they don’t know, especially<br />

when it comes to sex.<br />

Les<br />

You said experiment<strong>in</strong>g, how<br />

do they experiment<br />

Veronica<br />

When a friend tells them “Hey<br />

my friend, sex is good” and<br />

another one comes and they<br />

have a baby and say “Hey my<br />

friend, gett<strong>in</strong>g a child support<br />

grant is nice, I get paid every<br />

month and I’m still a student”<br />

and so the girl would want to<br />

also get the R200.<br />

YOUTH IN DIALOGUE 49

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