HIV/AIDS is a major national problem in South Africa, and the poverty stricken Eastern Cape is one of the worst affected regions, with, according to antenatal clinic surveys, an HIV prevalence of 29%. Yet rural communities are ill-equipped to deal with the virus that is killing them daily. Inadequate access to Government health services, poor and unsanitary living conditions, stigma and lack of awareness of the reality of HIV/AIDS are all obstacles in the way of communities taking positive action against the epidemic. As a result people with HIV/AIDS often suffer and die alone, families and communities live in ignorance or denial, and unsafe sex is widely practiced.
TransCape takes a multi-faceted response to HIV/AIDS in the rural Nyandeni area, helping the government health services to improve their service delivery, holding community based awareness days, and working with community members, many of whom are themselves living with HIV, to run grassroots projects that raise awareness and deliver ‘door to door’ advice, care and support. We believe in this way we will help establish health enabling communities that will break out of the cycle of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Through its work with Canzibe hospital and with its surrounding clinics and communities, TransCape has realized that there are a number social, economic and environmental challenges contribute to the poor health of community members, which in turn inhibits their ability to combat HIV/AIDS. Thus, in our HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns and establishment of community home based care and education programmes, we aim to a number of health issues, such as diabetes and TB, alongside HIV and AIDS.
We have also set up a number of health promotion projects in connection with the hospital, such as child malnutrition and providing powdered milk for mothers who are HIV positive (not breast-feeding can reduce the risk of mother to child transmission of HIV). The cause of malnutrition is usually lack of the mothers’ knowledge about nutrition and health, and/or lack of finances to buy good food. It can also be caused by an underlying disease. In the past few years the number of malnourished children has grown due to the increasing number of children that are born HIV positive. These children fail to gain weight or even loose weight as they need all their energy to fight infections, they have frequent diarrhea and they have a loss of appetite due to pain and illness.
Poverty in the Eastern Cape is widespread and oppressive, limiting people’s ability to sustain a decent quality of life. In the Nyandeni municipal area jobs are particularly scarce, and where there are opportunities, people often lack the skills or level of education required to access them. Here employment is at 8% of the population, while 81% of people have no personal income. Most people living here are dependent on government grants, or relatives who work in distant urban locations like Johannesburg or Cape Town, and this is not always a reliable source of income. For those living with HIV, the disability grant only lasts as long as you have a ‘CD4 count’ below 200, which often leaves people at a loss about how to sustain themselves when it runs out.
Government interventions have initiated the process of change in terms of improving living conditions; people here are starting to feel the benefits of improved housing, more toilets, increased access to water, and Government grants. However this is just a small drop in the ocean and it will take the new Government a long time to develop an area that has previously been abandoned.
In the mean-time TransCape recognizes that people here want to lift themselves and their communities out of the cycle of poverty by generating their own income. Located as we are at the source of the problem, we are able to help people start their own projects, through interest free loans which are repaid through profit from the projects, through organising trainings in how to manage and administer projects, and helping people identify and take ownership of the wealth of under-utilised natural resources in the area. In this way we aim to improve the quality of life of individuals and families, whilst boosting the economy of communities.
Education is an ongoing issue in the Eastern Cape. 40% of people have had no schooling, and only 3% have gone through higher education. Poor infrastructure means that schools are severely under-resourced in terms of qualified teachers, materials and adequate building space. Conditions in schools have also been exacerbated by legacy of Apartheid, whereby black schools were under-funded and the curriculum for black people was limited to a level sufficient only for low-skilled ‘blue-collar’ jobs.
When the new democratic government took over the right to education was made an essential part of the post-Apartheid constitution. A national curriculum was established for all South Africans irrespective of colour. This holds much promise for students of today’s generation. However in the Eastern Cape, poverty and lack of resources mean that its benefits are still being under-utilised.
TransCape aims to help people access equal opportunities to education, emerging as confident, skilled citizens, capable of making life-affirming decisions and contributing positively to the economy and society of their families, communities and country.
TransCape is piloting a model education centre in Mdumbi, Tshani community, in the deep rural Nyandeni municipal area, where the education system desperately needs supplementing. The Mdumbi Education Centre allows children and adults to benefit from exposure to educational practices, as well as extra-curricular activities to build a variety of skills, including computer literacy.
