An annual youth programme that tries to offer new perspectives on various issues took place recently at the campus of Monash South Africa in Ruimsig, west of Johannesburg. The event, which started in 2001 and has been sponsored by Monash since 2003, was attended by about 120 grade 11 learners from Soweto and other areas.
Speakers are invited to find stimulating new ways of thinking about topics such as HIV/Aids and have included comedian Pieter Dirk-Uys, Gail Johnson of Nkosis Haven and David Harrison, chief executive of loveLife.
This year Nhlanhla Dlamini, just 23 and already highly successful, was the keynote speaker. His topic, Personal mastery: Every one of us is a leader, was based on his own experience.
In grade 11 Nhlanhlas parents told him they could not afford to put him through university. From that day on he set his mind on winning a bursary and improving his grades. He pasted a picture of Wits on his bedroom wall to keep him on track and applied for every bursary available. He achieved his objective, but admits it was tough.
Nhlanhla said he did not want to come across as a motivational speaker who offers little more than an emotional roller-coaster ride. He prefers to engage with learners and allow them to shape their own long-term plans.
The effectiveness of his speech could be judged by the learners comments, which reflected what went through their minds at the time.
Some of the comments included: Nhlanhla made me know where to start when I want to be successful; If you are not hard working you cant be a leader; You can start having nothing but youll earn something one day; Its nice to know that there are black men who are doing it for themselves. Its people like Nhlanhla who make us want to go further in life.
Nhlanhlas act was a hard one for me to follow, but our aims were similar. My topic was Young people can become an effective force in society. I had gained a number of new insights on HIV and its devastating effects on young people from different sources that I wanted to share. I used some startling facts to illustrate my theme.
First, 42% of the population in South Africa is younger than 20 years of age. Harrison, of loveLife, calls this a youth bubble. The bubble means that young people can be a powerful force, which might be either positive or negative. They make a big difference to the HIV infection rate, but at the moment it is not a positive effect it is an HIV-positive effect.
Next, young people are responsible for half of the new HIV infections that occur in South Africa, so they keep the fire of the epidemic going. The learners were able to explain why young people are such a high HIV-risk group. Multiple partners, drugs and alcohol abuse and unprotected sex are all factors of which they are aware.
The youth bubble can be seen in a positive light too. For instance, if the HIV infection rate in the 15 to 24 age group drops dramatically, it could have a huge effect on controlling the virus.
I also felt compelled to share what I had gleaned from the Nelson Mandela Science Lecture at Wits University on October 5 this year. It was presented by the brilliant American virologist, David Baltimore, who shed new light on HIV.
He said that scientists are getting nowhere with a vaccine against HIV. Baltimore emphasised that all science has to offer is education and condoms. There is no other useful protection besides condoms.
Every individual is at risk and education is our only hope. We have to offer honest advice and put our hearts and souls into education. It has worked in Thailand.
It is my hope that the 11 schools that attended the youth programme and the educators who accompanied them will go back to their schools with an urgent warning based on new information on HIV.
If 11 schools are fighting HIV wholeheartedly, it is a start.
Joan Dommisse is an educator. She can be contacted on [email protected] or 011 616 8404