Hello all, although we are back from South Africa safe and sound, Roxanne thought it would be a good idea for us to write blog entries on some of the organizations and NGO's that we visited while there.
The organization that I chose was TAC (Treatment Action Campaign), an NGO located in Khayelitsha. Before meeting with TAC, Colleen (our wonderful tour guide) warned us that Mandla and his collegues at TAC were very controversial, and that their views on certain issues would be very radical.
The first thing that Mandla, and his three collegues told us about TAC was that it operates on two major principles: 1) they do not accept money from the South African government and 2) they do not accept money from pharmaceutical companies. Mandla explained that these principles are enforced because both government and pharmaceutical organizations often have their own priorities, and do not have the needs of the people in mind.
With that said, maybe it will help to explain a little bit of what TAC actually does (DUH!). Lol.
TAC has four main goals, all revolving around HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, and education.
- 1) Reduce price of treatment for HIV/AIDS and try to make sure ARV's (Anti Retro Virals) are available to everyone
- 2) Educate communities about HIV/AIDS
- 3) Institute policies about HIV in the workplace
- 4) Inform people about their rights
Mandla went on to explain that the treatment for HIV with the use of ARV's was not always approved by South Africa's healthcare system. Eventually, however, ARV's began to be accepted for use by HIV/AIDS patients. Today about 11,000 patients are on ARV's or on therapy.
The issue of HIV in Khayelitsha is complicated by the high levels of Tuberculosis and rape. Estimating about two rape cases per day, and also high levels of violence, TAC's reach within Khayelitsha is extended to about 14 branches to help with these issues. TAC maintains a presence in local clinics, as they believe targeting patients in the clinics while they are waiting to be seen by a doctor is easiest to increase awareness on HIV/AIDS prevention and most importantly their rights within the healthcare system. Additionally, because young people face many of these issues and are pressured into having sex at a young age, TAC, much like Lovelife, also targets youth in schools and in community events. For the most part, TAC also avidly promotes the use of the ABC's (Abstain, Be faithful, use Condoms) so as to give teens alternatives. Since having a boyfriend may mean that a young girl attains independence and money, it is these social systems that may negatively affect South African youth.
Our conversation then shifted to a question-answer period where we touched upon how Mandla felt about the new and old South African presidents. Since many of the problems faced by people in Khayelitsha are a result of the government and health care systems which they are a part of, Mandla stated that the ignorance on part of the ANC (Thebu Mbeke and Jacob Zuma) is what allowed for the continuation of these issues. Mandla also believed that instead of trying to solve issues of HIV and rape, heads of state often perpetuate them by either ignoring their presence or outright denying thay they may even exist.
We then also spoke about Nelson Mandela and how people like Zuma used his name and image to gain support from voters. This then began a conversation about Mandela and how he handled the economic issues while in office, and did not diretly address them. Mandla then stated that he felt "Mandela is a sellout," because he did not speak out against the ANC (African National Congress) while he was still in power. Perhaps, this happened because he was a representative of the party, and within the parliamentary system he was not allowed to speak against the party's own agenda. Almost as though he was supposed to follow what the majority of the party was doing, despite Mandela's own personal opinions and experiences with HIV and how he felt it could be helped or changed.
The Mandela conversation was very intense, since we were not used to hearing this side of the story. Our team had simply not heard such radical opinions from people in South Africa since we were primarily exposed to the Young Lions in Jo-Burg--who are ANC supporters. Hence, at least for me, this was very eye opening experience. I am very glad that we got to visit TAC when we did, because I definitely think we gained some very valuable insight as to the HIV pandemic, and what some small grassroots organizations are doing to help.
Below you can find the link to TAC's website which lists the latest events and news onTAC and their activities.http://www.tac.org.za/community/
Regards,
Ginette~<3
Shout out Brittany for providing me with some notes from that day
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