The disused school sheltering some 200 refugees who fled across the border from Togo to Ghana has no doors, windows or even latrines, and some people are complaining about snakes and mosquitoes at night. ”What’s the point of playing doctor after a death? Prevention is better than healing. That is my message to the United Nations,” said one of the elders.
Aids education activity ideas – It is my right to get the information I need – It is my right to say NO – It is my right to protect myself from unwanted touch – It is my right to believe what I choose to believe – It is my right to change my mind […]
SHEILA DREW reviews Begin at Home by Sonia Gouws and Mari Latti (Maskew Miller Longman, R 99,95) IT is refreshing, to see something written for those children who seem to get the least attention in Curriculum 2005, the under-sevens. The Begin at Home pack aims to help parents prepare pre-school children for formal school. The […]
HILARY FINE reviews the titles on offer from Shortlands Publications BLENDING entertainment with education can create a sense of excitement and delight among emerging readers, and if they get hooked on books early, maybe they will become readers for life. Shortlands Publications, a New Zealand publishing company new to the South African market, produces a […]
When a young girl becomes pregnant she has the option to abort SINCE the Abortion Act was legalised in 1997, 36 069 legal abortions have been performed at the Marie Stopes clinics nationwide. Of these, 5 700 have been performed on girls between the ages of 12 and 17. A teenage girl is often not […]
FOR almost seven years, Enhlanhleni High school in the Underberg has expelled both students who fall pregnant and their partners from the school. When Ruth Mkhize, a Catholic nun, became principal in 1993 she introduced this regulation ”to curb student pregnancy”. Since then more than 20 students have lost their right to education. Enhlanhleni High […]
MAPHUMI Mkhonza (not her real name) dreamt of becoming a medical doctor one day. She came second in her grade 7 class last year, but she had little to be excited about because by then she already knew she was pregnant. Her father raped her repeatedly. Her immediate future was to sit at home and […]
AS the world prepares to celebrate International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (Idada), drug lords from around the globe are asserting an increasingly stronger hold on South Africa. As far as the South African Narcotics Bureau (Sanab) Superintendent Andre Brits knows though, there will be no special local celebrations for Idada this year. […]
MELINDA FERGUSON interviewed Alex Hamlyn, head of substance abuse treatment and a drug counsellor at Houghton House HAMLYN defines addiction as an illness or disease, identified by a loss of control over the amount of drugs used. The individual’s continued use of the substance, despite negative consequences, further identifies the illness. ”The age of onset […]
MELINDA FERGUSON interviewed four teenagers, three of whom share their experiences of drug addiction, and all who share their attitudes to drugs, life and the future Tupak (16) A pupil at a technical college in Johannesburg, Tupak is a cool-looking dude who is ”addicted to everything”. He has dreadlocks and slouches around in somewhat dirty […]