Accepting and caring When Nomsa was

(1)

• HEALTH

Accepting and caring W

^he^pre^Liruliwⁿ^gnant^No^e.^m^{sa was}^with^h^er ^doctor

told her that she wa s Hlv- posi- live . For mo nths she kept this a secret. Later. after spea king 10

people at a co mmunity AIDS organisation. Nomsa built up the courage tn tell her family.

They were angry and scared.

For a lo ng time no one wanted

10 go ne ar he r. Nomsa did not give up tryin g to get rhcmto unde rstand. She kept speaking

10 them about it and . after some lime they accepted it.

Now. her whole family is going for co unselling. Nomsa is lucky, she ha s a famil y that understands her need s and he lps her as much as Ihey can.

-My family wanted nothing to do with me. Now the y've ac cept e d I have HIV.- said Nom s a

These pages have been made

possible by NPPHCN

National AIDS Programme

The PPHC National AIDS

Programme helps communjties fight jgnorance about AIDS. Ifyou

need the supportofa community worl<er or if you hal'{! any ruther questions contact the PPHC Nafional AIDS Programme. The telephone numbets of the ir omces are:

Nat ional

omc:.:

⁽⁰¹¹⁾ 33T8539 EalItem Trantvaal:

I

(01315)41 18 1

I

Northern Trans vaal: (01521) 91 4221 Southern Trantvsal: (011) 337 7126 Ora",e Free State:

(057) 396 5509

Natal: (031)301 2582

Natal Mldla" ':(0331) 45 0453 Northern Natal: (0354) 74181 Border. (0431)43 6733

Eastern Cape: (04 1)41 1618 T,anskel: (0471)31 0757

Western Ca pe: (021) 696 4154

SPEAK.

October

1993. Page

20

Caring for peop le with HIV and AIDS

AIDS is a sexually transmitted disea se. The virus that causes AIDS is called HIV.

Many families simply refu se 10 have anything to do with relative s with HIV and AIDS. They are scared of gel- ling the disease themselve s.

Man y also feel helpless . At present, il is mostly health wor kers who are working with people with HIV and AIDS.

Health workers tell people what they can expect when going for a te st. They also try to prepare the m for what the outcome ofthe test might be. They also provide medical treatment.

Many nf the probl ems pe0-

ple with HIV and AIDS face are not med ical , but relate to fea rs, lack of suppo rt from

(2)

People who are

HIV-

positive or have AIDS need

care and support from

their loved

ones

• HEALTH

Nomu Is lucky. Her family support and

car.

fof her and Undlwe

bmily. looeh ne;~ and guilt.

Care and MlW"'! of rat iel1l ~

~Jdnot be kfl lo hcallh woden; alone. Comm uni t)' organi:lolltiOlls. _{b.m i l~}and

otherinst itu tions should play an

ecnve

^rol^e ^{in ..}"Ori,;in ~ with

panenrs.

Allhe rnom<'nl. PPHC National AIDS _~f3mme is the only organi'iOllion thai has1I care training centre.

1k

centre,

based in Pietermarttzberg, trains people. including hc:alth workers. how 10care for people with HIV and AIDS.

Families also require a Itll of support and eno:oura~cmc nl.

They need to learn ho w In counsel and nurse. AIDS is a disease many people believe will never affec t them or their lo ved ones. When it docs, they

are not prepared for

i t

and have

to learn how to cope with, care for and support the patient

without fear and discrtrmn ution.

GoIng for an HIV test People planning to have an

HIV IN abo need ""pport, lt is

~'i.U)' 10 gc'I cocnselfing before and after the IN is done. Tbey mu"'- Ihinl care fully about what lhc:y .... ould do if they an:

HIV-po.N li\ e. 1bey have ¹⁰ be Mire lhc:y wanl to IJJow " 'hether lhey are HIV.po.rsilive or 001..

People need counselling afler receiving their resah.

whelher il is posuiveor nega- tive. "They need 10 be informed ahou l safe ^SCJl. ¹⁰ avo id the ^ri^s^k of beinll infected or ofin fecting ot heOi.

If the lesl is f".",ilive they will need clTl()(ional support.

The person will have to inform

their sexual partner and family about the results of the test.

This is oflen very diffic ult and painful.

They should gel advice on where ¹⁰ go for furt her hel p and support.

Uvlng

with

AIDS

Personal reluuonshtps may suf- fer when a person i~ told he or SPEAK . October 1993 . Pa g e 21

-.he is HIV-po.",ili\ e. People may K.lsc lhc:ir jobs and if lhe

peN>Il gets full blown AIDS.

!tIC)" ..-ill have many heahh

problems.

Many problems will

anse

^a^s

someone gets 10 the final Slalln of AIDS.Coun<oe lling and sup- pun for the ilklividual and Iam- ily members is impunanl al lh is srage.1be dying peN>Il and family members may neal help

10 commemcete wuh each otl!cr; to shan: lheir feelings.

fears. hupes and ¹⁰ suppon each other.

Peop le whh HIV face rejec- lio n and hoslility. and have seri- ous fina ncial and other practic al problems. Ofte n employers,co- workers. fri ends and family membe rs are afra id of them.

and avo id them.

It is the duty of everyone In become aw are of HIV and AIDS. and 10 learn hi

u cccpt

and support people with

m v

and AIDS. 0

(3)

Make sexism a

• OPINION

E

^{uge ne}^the^{Stud ies,}^{Centre o}^Nyathi.^~ys^{f African}^{women are}^d^{irec to}^{r of}

not angry eno ugh and let men get away with being sexist.

Nyathi was born in a village outside Newcastle in Natal. He spe nt the early years of his life in Zimbabwe and went on to study econo mics in South

Africa and the United Slates of America (USA).

For many ofus, early life expe riences have a lot of influ-

ence in our adult life . This is true of Nyathi's:"At a fa irly young age, I found out that blacks are discriminated against."

But, he believe sdifficult times can develop a person and build disc ipline : "In the end.j

fo und out that my biggest defence and way of surviving was being myself and being proud of my background, espe- cially my African histo ry and upbringing."

This, he says, is the differ- ence between himse lf and a large numbe r of other black professionals. He describes them as people who go out of their way to impress othe rs:

"They go to mee tings and

speak with fake American

accents."

Nyathi is angered by such behaviour becau se: "These people are meant to be the role models in society, and I'm not so sure they are.

He is also concerned about the conditio n of the black fa mi- ly today. He says :"One of the biggest strengths in my life is I had both parents unti l my

teenage years. I believe they gave me guidance Ico uld not learn in any textbook."

"T oday the black family is

falling apart. This is sad

because family is the strength of any society.

"Ifthere is any thing I would

love to enco urage anybody to belie ve , is that responsibility starts with the individual. It

starts at home ." Nyathi adds.

He argues though that people can no t blame apartheid for everything : "You ca n blame aparthe id for the lack of educa- tion, health and so on. You can't blame apan neid for the

SPEAK . October 1993. Page 22

fact that we (men ) may abuse our wives, our children, and

father child ren that we do not suppo rt.

" B

₁₀^lac_{stop be}^k ^{women have}_ing

grateful for too lit- tle. As long as black men are not under any pressure to

change, we have no motivation and no reason to behave better,"

"Men enjoy the power they

Accepting and caring When Nomsa was