News – Dialogue for Justice

Mthatha community conversation

A community counts its losses and talks about acceptance, love and support

25 September 2008 | Category: Dialogue for Justice

Sept 23, 2008 – “This is not the freedom our leaders before us fought for. AIDS is killing us but we seem as if we don’t care. Let’s get together and fight this disease!”

A crowd of 400 people applauded these words from a young woman at the community conversation held in Mthatha on September 3.

Soshanguve community conversation

The community begins to realise that it cannot go on in silence about HIV, and that the only shame is in not caring

12 September 2008 | Category: Dialogue for Justice

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.”

KwaMakhutha community conversation

This community is not new to struggle and loss, but needs to regroup and develop constructive strategies

8 September 2008 | Category: Dialogue for Justice

Sept 8, 2008 – “Next year when the Nelson Mandela Foundation returns, I don’t want people to be putting down stones that represent me.” This powerful reflection came out of the “counting your losses” session at a township dialogue, where participants laid down small stones to represent the lives of loved ones lost through AIDS.

Galeshewe community conversation

The pain of loss meets the force of denial

28 August 2008 | Category: Dialogue for Justice

Aug 28, 2008 – “They were crying for help from me and I ignored them.” Words of anguish and regret were the first step towards healing and change at a community meeting in Galeshewe last month. “If you don’t cry, you will fall down on the ground with pain some day,” said another of the community members.

Silence quietly shatters in Soshanguve

Community opens up about HIV/AIDS at dialogue event

27 August 2008 | Category: Dialogue for Justice

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.

Women unite to accept responsibility

Malibongwe Dialogue highlights the need for women to empower one another

22 August 2008 | Category: Dialogue for Justice

Aug 22, 2008 – Women need to empower one another, to raise themselves and society as a whole. This was the message from the Malibongwe Dialogue held at the Sandton Convention Centre this morning.

Women of different ages and walks of life from all over South Africa joined together to discuss the challenges women face in the new South Africa – and ways to solve them.

KwaLanga community conversation

Substance abuse emerges as one of the main challenges

18 August 2008 | Category: Dialogue for Justice

Aug 18, 2008 – The Nelson Mandela Foundation held another event in the series of community conversations in KwaLanga on July 24, 2008.

Substance abuse within the community emerged as one of the key challenges facing the Western Cape location.

Thaba Nchu community conversation

Community identifies its main concerns around HIV and AIDS

28 July 2008 | Category: Dialogue for Justice

July 28, 2008 – Close to 1 000 people living in the Free State’s Motheo District gathered at Moroka High School at the end of June to participate in a community conversation organised as part of the ongoing Dialogue Programme of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. These conversations are intended to emphasise HIV prevention at community level.

Giyani community conversation

Youth ask for support from the older generation

28 July 2008 | Category: Dialogue for Justice

July 28, 2008 – Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) Dialogue Programme community conversations series returned to Giyani for a second year on July 2, 2008.

While last year’s conversation in November had involved Giyani’s youth, between 16 and 24 years old, this year’s conversation encouraged participants from all age groups to attend the meeting.

Sixth Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture address

14 July 2008 | Category: Dialogue for Justice

The Sixth Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture address by Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.