UFH Hosts The Children, AIDS and Communal Strategies Research Workshop

The University of Fort Hare hosted the inaugural, collaborative research project addressing problems of children affected and afflicted by HIV/AIDS from the perspective of the socio-cultural dynamic of the local communities earlier this year. The workshop was facilitated by Ms Priscilla Monyai.

The University of Fort Hare represented South Africa at the workshop, while other countries that presented papers on research in the field of children, AIDS and communal coping strategies were Botswana, Norway, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Officially opening the workshop, the Vice Chancellor Professor Derrick Swartz said that he trusted the “Generation and regeneration of ideas on this scourge will help explore answers to the difficult questions that we are confronted with.” He reiterated that AIDS does not affect particular people, but that it knows no boundaries, “AIDS affects people of all creeds, race and status, it affects all of us and as such I hope this initiative will help raise people’s consciousness to change their values and habits.”

“We cannot be able to continue life as normal with respect to this vicious pandemic, this gathering may be small but your efforts are the drop that will swell the ocean. I believe what transpires out of this workshop will have multiplying effects across space and time and give humanity a better chance to life,’ said Prof. Swartz.
In his keynote address, Dr S. Lefakane, a medical practitioner in private practice at Lesedi Clinic in Gauteng said a lot had still to be learnt about AIDS while it continues to decimate people, “The ravages of Aids have indeed touched everyone, it has touched Hollywood stars, the British and French entertainment worlds together with the poor townships and villages of Africa. The scourge has claimed 60 million people worldwide with the global epicenter of the epidemic being sub-Saharan Africa.” Dr Lefakane went on to say that one of the complexities of HIV/AIDS is that, “it now manifest itself in what is called AIDS/TB complex. Tuberculosis, which was once curable, is now one of the opportunistic diseases that have combined with AIDS to wreak havoc among our communities. However studies and tests have shown that “vertical transmission”, transmission from mother to child can be reduced by as much as 50% and indeed in a growing number of cases it can be prevented. AZT has yielded positive results in the prevention of mother to child transmission. Breastfeeding is cautiously encouraged, but instead powered milk is recommended as a substitute”.

Touching on children, Dr Lefakane said the general physical wasting and opportunistic diseases affected children more rapidly than they did with elders and the plight of children especially the girl child in South Africa was exacerbated by myths that sex with virgins cleanses one of HIV and AIDS.

Dr Bawa Yamba, a social anthropologist from Sweden, bemoaned the fact that even if it was possible to dispense free antiretroviral drugs to most of the third world countries, the success of the drugs will be hampered because most the countries do not have infrastructure that can effectively support such initiatives. People need good health care services, clean water, and good standard of living for these drugs to be effective, he said, “ It is important to fight infections through protecting the children because they are the only hope for the future. In Africa’s harsh rural environment, where services and amenities are scant, the burden shouldered by the orphans is enormous.“ He cited some of the recurring problems as, lost family identity as a result of disinheritance following the loss of both parents to AIDS, psycho-social trauma and stress, malnutrition and loss of health care and reproductive education, sexual abuse and homelessness. He stressed that we are all in the fight against HIV/AIDS together and “The socialization of the child is not just the responsibility of the family, we must return to our African roots were the child was not just the individuals responsibility but the entire village had a duty to protect this future generation. Government must provide legislation to protect the child,” he concluded.