Nelson Mandela Foundation

On World AIDS Day: starting where communities are

December 1, 2009 – As part of its ongoing work with communities throughout South Africa about the awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS, the Nelson Mandela Foundation convened 120 dialogues this year – 12 conversations in 10 communities in all nine provinces.

Community conversations

Dec 1, 2008 – The Nelson Mandela Foundation has published a booklet describing the series of 10 community conversations on HIV/AIDS around South Africa in 2008.

In his foreword to the booklet, Foundation CEO Achmat Dangor writes: “The 2008 dialogues held in 10 community settings have created a body of knowledge that policy makers, scientists and activists will certainly find useful. Most importantly, these dialogues have helped the local participants to confront that “unspeakable” presence in their midst: HIV prevalence and AIDS mortality. They now have the potential to be empowered and to act decisively.”

Skills passed on to community conversations facilitators

Nov 17, 2008 – The Nelson Mandela Foundation convened a community conversation run by newly trained facilitators at Soshanguve, in Gauteng, yesterday.

“Community conversations” is a Nelson Mandela Foundation initiative aimed at facilitating dialogue about HIV/AIDS within communities.

Soshanguve community conversation

Sept 12, 2008 – “When I think about how many people I have infected, I feel ashamed. I would like to apologise to all of them. Right now I’m standing in front of my community saying that I am HIV-positive. I’m trying to break the stigma. Let us rectify the mistakes we’ve made. This is the first time I have talked about my status in public and I want to thank God for giving me the courage. A chance to make a change.”

Silence quietly shatters in Soshanguve

Aug 27, 2008 – Breaking the silence by telling a roomful of people that you’re HIV-positive, in a community that still vilifies those who are positive, requires an enormous amount of courage.

This is precisely what happened today in Soshanguve, a large township outside Tshwane, when members of the community convened as part of the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s community conversation series. The series has visited a number of communities throughout the country to discuss the issues surrounding HIV/AIDS.

The aim of the community conversations is to provide a safe space and platform for people to discuss the particular challenges they face around HIV/AIDS and to try to find ways forward together.