Yabonga empowers women to live HIV positively

First World countries have since long started to deal with the problem of HIV/Aids; in South Africa the disease is all pervasive. You can’t open a newspaper without being confronted by the stark reality of a situation that threatens the stability of this country and the African continent like no civil war ever has. Yabonga in Wynberg, Cape Town, is one of several NGO’s working with HIV/Aids sufferers trying to alleviate the dire situation through training women and providing support for those living with the disease.

Thankful
Zanele Ngcezula, a worker at the centre, goes out into communities all over Cape Town where HIV/Aids is most prevalent, giving speeches to women. “The focus is to empower them,” she says. “Yabonga” means being thankful in the Nguni languages. The main group Yabonga is targeting are women over 23 with children. Jeanette Masala, a project coordinator, says that they want to train people who are mature with children. “Teenagers also get support from our peer counsellors in the community,” she says. After the training is completed women go out into their communities, becoming peer counsellors.

Financial aid
Those women that are really poor and are unable to provide for their families also receive food parcels on a monthly basis while they are being trained. The training is free of charge and participants receive money to transport them to Yabonga’s offices.

Connecting with communities
Masala says that they liaise with local community clinics, thus building a relationship with health professionals in the townships where the HIV/Aids problem is most prevalent.
“In the townships we use converted shipping containers, hosting support groups, counselling services and training. We give them training in personal development and cultivating food gardens as a way of making an income and also providing food for their families,” says Masala.

Fear of rejection
Ngcezula adds that women are often rejected by their partners once they disclose their status. “Often they get blamed for the disease, which in most cases is not based on fact, she says. “Women need to have self-esteem and that’s what we’re trying to do.” The partners of those infected with the disease are often invited to counselling sessions where they can interact with peer counsellors and are prepared for disclosure by their partners.

Teach legal right
Being HIV+ in South Africa to many people equals death. Trying to get people to disclose their status to their families takes a lot of courage and is still the most difficult part of the counselling. Women who disclose their status to their partners are often of physically abused says Ngcezula. “Women, especially those in the townships, take physical abuse as the norm in a relationship. We also teach them their legal rights as women, that physical abuse is not tolerated,” she says.

Funding
The Health Department is the single largest contributor to this project. Yabonga also gets some funding through the Austrian consulate in Cape Town. Masala says that they would appreciate assistance with resources which they utilize in their training programme. “Funding depends on the success of the projects,” she says.

Looking back
Reflecting back on the time when the organisation had just started out, both Ngcezula and Masala agree that things have changed for the better although not obvious at first. Ngcezula: “When we started out, people did not want to talk about the issues surrounding HIV/Aids. Today there has been a remarkable change because people understand the virus and how to manage it”.