Interview with UBA’s youth educator
Questions with…
Silvester, Ubuntu Africa’s youth educator
How did you come to work for UBA? Had you done any HIV/AIDS related work prior to your involvement with this organization?
I was working with kids at my church and a friend of mine, because she knew that I love working with kids, [told me] about UBA. I was just helping twice a week and then I started to work here. It was about the kids. When I started here, there were two boys that were having a lot of problems because of the lack of a father figure. It was difficult for me to say, “Okay, now I’m done, bye,” so when UBA offered me the job, I decided that I wanted to work more with the kids.
According to you, what about UBA stands out the most? What do you think makes it especially different from other organizations that also work with HIV/AIDS in Khayelitsha?
The thing here is you can see what you’re doing, and you can see that [the kids] need help, so you can see the impact of what you do. There is a need and there is help, and you can see the difference you are making with these kids.
As part of the comprehensive care component at UBA, everybody here seems to have multiple roles combined into one. What do you see as your role?
My role here…my role here I would say is that I want to change the lives of these kids, I want to make sure that they get what they want and that they fulfill these dreams, to bring back that hope and that self esteem. When they come in here they have very low self esteem—people don’t identify between AIDS and HIV positive—so [it is about] giving them that hope again. The very important thing is love and support, when you know that there is someone that loves you and someone that can speak to your life.
Some of them are staying with foster parents [and] they have questions they cannot even ask. If you open up to them, if [they have] that freedom to ask you any question, it makes a difference.
Monday I do weekend stories [where the kids talk in a group about their weekends], and find out if there is anything that needs counseling. Tuesday and Wednesday are education days, Thursday is sports day, and Friday is recreation.
How do you go about teaching the kids?
You have to be very simple and you have to be on their level. For a sense, [when the kids are on vacation] I am standing in front of the board like a teacher. When they come from school, I have to do an activity to teach them the day’s lesson, so they can have fun [because they have just come] from sitting on desks and listening to a teacher. We have to change up the strategy.
In your experience, have you found that Khayelitsha community supports UBA and its work?
Well first, in the community there is only one organization that is doing what we’re doing—Ubuntu Africa is the first organization that is doing this in the community. 75% of the people think that we’re doing a great job and 25% still have a stigma against the kids. We do get the support, but not as much. It will take time. I think there is more education that is needed about HIV and AIDS—[people think] if they have an HIV positive person: ‘I’ll be infected.’ If we give the education to them, then they can understand.
What do you think is the biggest challenge for HIV-positive children in Khayelitsha?
The biggest challenge is that of the stigma. They get it from their peers and from the community itself. They will say, “don’t play with the child, that child is sick.”
What goals do you have for the future of UBA—both personally and for the organization as a whole?
My first goal is to see some of the kids running the program for the other kids. Once they do that, I know they are ready to face the world. Goal number two is to see Ubuntu Africa having other branches, where we are not only in Khayelitsha, we have a satellite in Guguletu and our kids are going there and speaking to those kids. I want to see our kids becoming motivational speakers one day.
Tell us what inspires you, and how the children inspire you. (their strength, their laughter etc).
Their boldness. [At first] you see ‘this child is new,’ and later, after two or three weeks, you can see a huge difference. This child is gaining weight, the skin is changing. Before, these children didn’t even want to hear anything [about HIV], but now they are so bold and they can say ‘I am HIV positive.’ I also receive phone calls from the parents saying ‘my child is changing.’ That motivates us a lot.
Read more interviews an learn about UBA’s incredible staff!
Questions with..
Skwayi, UBA’s social worker and counselor
Nonceba, UBA’s operations manager