Two Voices As One

APISH

Waves for Change is making waves among the dusty streets of Masiphumelele. It is making waves because it opens up discussions among young teenagers about the various challenges they face daily. The teenagers find an Oasis and a place refuge whenever we come together daily to discus our issues.

One night we slept as teenagers and the following cold morning we woke up as adults of child headed households

Our issues or challenges are mainly HIV and Aids which has left a huge itchy wound on the community because one night we slept as teenagers and the following cold morning we woke up as Adults of child headed households. We are not only fighting HIV and Aids but also fighting against drugs, alcohol abuse and gangsterism amongst our friends and neighbors.

We never chose to become the adults but circumstances have led to an unexpected role change. Most of us are not ready to become adults, we still want to play soccer with our friends in the dusty streets, play marbles in the red clay and play hide and seek till  the sun sets on our shoulders.

Through coming together under the Waves for Change Umbrella we come and motivate each other and become change-makers which will lead to a better and safer South Africa. Ultimately it is not about what our country can do for us but what can we do for our country and become citizens rather than spectators.

Waves for Change as a seemingly large role to play in South Africa as a country because we are living in a country with highest cases of HIV and child headed Households. Waves for Change brings us together and we can form discussion which will ultimately reverse the effects of the epidemic. While many scientists crack their brains trying to find a cure, little did they know, Waves for Change is the social cure for Aids. One wave at a time we will consciously conquer Aids and surf ourselves to an HIV free and safer South Africa.

BONGS

Greetings with the conscious words of Martin Luther King, who said ‘our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter to us’.

In turn I ask myself, what are the things that matter most to me? There are thousands of people dying due to HIV and Aids in my community. Family members fall and they never wake up, they silently die alone and become part of the soil we step on.

And that same community continues to live as though HIV is a mere myth while they whisper of a silent killer.

And that same community continues to live as though HIV is a mere myth while they whisper of a silent killer.  It is astonishing we do not speak about it, the matter becomes desensitized and a stumbling block for communal growth. In light of the words by Martin Luther King, can we keep being silent about it?

Since we are all living, and some barely trying to survive, in the Information Age which is powered by the interactive Web 3, this is the critical age where information has become a commodity. With information, diverse communities are built to live longer and prosper. At Isiqalo we are using surfing as a tool to impart information that will enable the youth to make better life choices. Interactive facilitation is a catalyst for our program and ensures that the messages are clear as crystal.

The need to open conversations about HIV is huge. We see it in Masiphumelele, and the new Waves for Change site recently opened at Monwabisi! This message was started in South Africa but we want to see it around every corner of the world. By looking at the rate at which citizens are contracting HIV/Aids in Sub-Saharan Africa, the information I share at Waves for Change could be the difference between a participant growing old and a participant dying alone.

Today information is clearly a commodity but we should not just treasure it, we should spread it to the world. We cannot be silent about it. If we are silent about it, it would be the end of communities because of Ubuntu; we are who we are because of others. I am because we are.