‘The teachers love me, the children love me. Some of the children were worried they would get Aids from me, but some of the others told them Nkosi is a gentle little boy, he will not harm you.” These are the words of Nkosi Johnson when asked in a radio interview whether he liked school.
Nkosi, who died in 2001 at the age of 12, first came into the limelight in 1997 when his adoptive mother, Gail Johnson, challenged a school in Melville, Johannesburg, for refusing to enrol him because of his HIV status. His courage as a HIV-positive youngster gave him the reputation as an ‘Aids icon” after he spoke out at several gatherings – including the United Nations conference on Aids – about his life and the government’s unwillingness to do something about the epidemic.
Last month his courage was again recognised when he became one of three finalists of The World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child, awarded to youngsters who have made important contributions to the rights of children. The winner will be announced this month.
Gail Johnson established Nkosi’s Haven as a shelter for destitute people living with HIV and Aids in 1999. It currently houses 17 children – between three weeks and 18 years old – and 14 adults. Some of the children are HIV-positive; some are Aids orphans while others are healthy and live with their HIV-positive mothers. ‘We don’t separate mothers from their children. Even when their children test negative, we take them in with their parents,” says Oscar Martin, administration manager at Nkosi’s Haven. Mothers take responsibility for their babies while other adults take care of children whose mothers have died. The adults do beadwork, sewing and painting for pocket money and to keep busy during the day.
The young and healthy-looking children happily engage in conversations with strangers who visit them – perhaps because they feel safer at the haven than at any other place. But the smiles on their faces fade away when they talk of school. They fear that schoolmates will victimise them and friends desert them if they know about their home lives. Most prefer to lie.
‘When my friends at school ask where I stay, I tell them ‘Berea’ and when they want to visit, I say my home is too far and my parents are strict,” says 12-year-old Tshepo, one of the children living at Nkosi’s Haven.
Thabo*, a 13-year-old HIV-positive orphan, says he makes up stories about his mother. ‘When they [school friends] talk about their mothers I just lie and make up things about my mother. If I don’t say anything they’ll get suspicious and ask too many questions.” He says none of his friends know where he lives.
His sister Maki* (15) says her friends at school are loving and supportive, but says she will never tell anyone – not even her friends – that she lives at Nkosi’s Haven. She says some children at school tease Thabo about a lump below his right ear.
‘They ask me about his lump. They say someone must have beaten him with a sjambok. Others say he has a hot potato in his mouth and is afraid to swallow it. They say all sorts of silly things,” she says, pain showing on her face.
Tebogo* (15) says his teachers know where he lives but says he wouldn’t dare disclose this to his friends. ‘Once they find out where you stay, they ask too many questions – some of them don’t make sense. They’ll ask if I’m going to die. Who won’t die? It doesn’t make sense.”
Pule* (6) is physically tiny but speaks with great courage. ‘I don’t care if they [other children at school] say I’m going to die because they are also going to die,” he says. He has a friend who lives next door. ‘Other children at school know where I live and my friend is very protective of me. When they start asking funny questions, he quickly dismisses them. He tells them it’s none of their business where and how I live.”
The outspoken boy says he doesn’t care what other children say at school about him, ‘they have their own problems too”.
These children may not be exposed to the open discrimination suffered by Nkosi, but they still have to struggle with the social stigma of living with HIV/Aids.
*Names have been changed