When given the opportunity children have a lot to say about how the government can improve their lives
Nawaal Deane
“People are HIV-positive you must help them, please,” says a seven-year-old girl who lives in the Free State.
Another seven-year-old little girl from the Eastern Cape says: “Dear persons, Please give us medicine to make the sick better, because we don’t like people to die. Please help me with some clothes because I don’t have clothes to keep me warm, ’cause my mother is sick and she can’t work.”
The National Children’s Forum on HIV/Aids brought together 90 children from around South Africa in an effort to provide children who are infected and affected by HIV/Aids with the opportunity to have their voices heard.
Many children living with HIV/Aids experience problems relating to the stigma attached to the virus, poverty and loneliness.
“Most have lost their parents and have been catapulted into the role of caregiver, often for very sickly and malnourished siblings,” says Sonja Giese, HIV/Aids coordinator for the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town.
“Children make up 44% of the South African population yet are rarely if ever consulted on matters affecting their well-being,” she says.
The forum is aimed at providing an opportunity for the children to express their needs and opinions regarding policies, programmes, laws and service delivery in relation to Aids.
“Their daily lives are filled with challenges seemingly insurmountable, yet they survive,” says Giese.
Letiwe (12) tells how she felt when her mother died of HIV/Aids.
“I felt very bad about what my mother died of. She had Aids. My mother’s friend told us my mother has Aids. People who have Aids must take their medicine, but they will never be the same as they were before. But the medicine can make them stronger, but later they will get weak again, their hair falls out, there are sores in their mouth.
“I loved my mother very much and I was always there for her and I will always think about her. My mother suffered a lot and I saw how she suffered but I could do nothing about it.”
The children were vocal on problems they experience at schools.
“Teachers at school may be concerned, but are not helpful. Sometimes, together with the parents they will get you out of school out of fear that you will infect other children with HIV if they know that someone in your family is HIV-positive,” says a nine-year-old girl.
The children had many suggestions about what the government should do to improve their lives.
“Tell teachers and communities to teach us about Aids and the government should find a cure,” says one child. They all agreed that the government must get AZT at a lower price.
“The government should tell people not to keep this a secret. If you keep it a secret you will die.”
They look towards the government for food, school fees and clothes but feel that education, medicine and doctors are essential for children living with HIV/Aids.
The Alliance for Children’s Entitlement to Social Security (Acess) views the current social security system as fragmented and non-comprehensive, with many groups of children falling through the gaps.
“Many children cannot access the grants, such as street children and child-headed households,” says Teresa Guthrie of the Children’s Institute.
Acess says the current child support grant of R110 is inadequate to cater for a child’s basic needs, while the care dependency grant has problems due to lack of clear definitions of “disability” and “permanent home care”.
In January about 700000 children were receiving the child support grants. This amounts to 7% of all poor children and 33% of targeted children.
“Social security grants are a very real and practical way of addressing many of the children’s needs,” says Giese.
“The children who participated in the National Children’s Forum are incredibly brave. We will strive to ensure that we do justice to their efforts to highlight the plight of infected and affected children by raising their issues at the highest possible level.”