Galeshewe community conversation

community conversation series visits Galeshewe

Aug 28, 2008 – “They were crying for help from me and I ignored them.” Words of anguish and regret were the first step towards healing and change at a community meeting in Galeshewe last month. “If you don’t cry, you will fall down on the ground with pain some day,” said another of the community members.

On July 14, 2008, the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s implementing partner, Cool Ideas, returned to the township of Galeshewe in the Northern Cape to hold a second community conversation about HIV/AIDS.

The team held a dialogue in this community last November, in which young people identified alcohol abuse and lack of communication between parents and children as some of their main concerns. They said they needed to be able to approach their challenges in a sober environment.

As part of the 2008 series of community conversations being held around the country, the Galeshewe event aimed to follow up on progress made and to empower the community to find its own solutions.

There is a long way to go, as some of the participants’ comments suggested. “I don’t want to be married to a sick person. What will I do with a sick wife?” said one young man, with the agreement of many others.

About Galeshewe

The township is one of South Africa’s oldest, established in the 1870s, and falls under Sol Plaatje Municipality. Like other townships, it was designed as a labour reservoir to support the economies of cities – in this case, Kimberley – and the apartheid government did not provide adequate social or commercial facilities. Little consideration was given to the dignity of people and making it possible to maintain decent standards of living.

Though the diamond rush in Kimberley laid the foundation of the South African economy in its time, there is now an exceptionally high unemployment rate.

Galeshewe has a population of more than 103 000. Many of these people hold Christian beliefs and community/ubuntu values.

This was the home of the first General Secretary of the ANC, the celebrated writer Sol Plaatje. The PAC leader Robert Sobukwe lived here as well. The town’s namesake, too, Kgosi Galeshewe, fought injustice in his time, as did many other heroes of this place.

So this town is not new to struggle and victory. The struggle against HIV is one that can be taken on by new heroes and heroines of this time. 

Social Mobilisation

The Nelson Mandela Foundation’s social mobilisation team arrived in Galeshewe on July 28, 2008, allowing three full working weeks to prepare for the community conversation. This entails raising awareness of the event and the support of local groups and structures.

The Foundation uses a UN methodology called Community Capacity Enhancement, which aims to strengthen communities to make their own changes to their environment.

Its success depends a lot on effective partnerships between government, civil society and the private sector. In Sol Plaatje Municipality and Frances Baard District Municipality, the following structures and organisations were engaged as partners:

o Office of the Mayor
o Office of the Speaker
o Community Development Workers (a government programme)
o Department of Social Welfare & Population Development
o ANC Constituency Office
o Ministers’ Forum
o LoveLife
o Christian Youth Society

The venue was made available at no cost by the local municipality, which also provided catering. Buses were provided by the district office.

Media

Paddy Nhlapo who heads the facilitation team, discussed the community conversation concept in a 30-minute interview on Teemaneng Community Radio, and the station broadcast live reads on every show from August 8 to 13.

The team put up posters at places like taxi ranks, shops and street poles to advertise the event.

Reflections

Each community conversation has to begin with time for reflection. Reflection is not the same as recapping, sharing experiences or describing an event. It is a process of introspection, to get in touch with one’s own inner feelings and values and how they underpin one’s behaviour. 

It is not just important as an individual level. When a community reflects on the major ordeals it has faced and overcome, lessons can be learnt and creative resources identified. Values, rules and concerns can be raised.

The process also creates a relationship based on confidence among facilitators and community members. Facilitators need to understand the sociocultural, individual and collective forces at work in a particular community. The facilitator guides the process using a set of skills and tools and taps the existing capacities of the community in its search for a response to challenging situations.

Community members

Exactly 705 community members attended the conversation at the Galeshewe Recreation Hall. Of these, 73% were youth, 9% adult men and 18% adult women.  They came from Galeshewe, Phuthanang, Zola Shongwe, Kutlwanong, Peter Mayibuye and Epeleng, among other areas. Buses supplied by the municipality brought learners from various schools and communities.

Counting your losses 

As with all the community conversations in this year’s series, this tool was utilised in Galeshewe. It gives the community an opportunity to reflect on how HIV has affected individuals and family units.  The participants laid small stones representing their loved ones on a piece of cloth, in memory of lost lives.  Then they were invited to share how they felt.

• Grandmother and traditional healer – “My daughter’s boyfriend died of HIV and this hurts deeply to think of all those we’ve lost; we must let them free and let them rest in peace.”
• Grandmother – “I lost my daughter to HIV. I wish her luck because I didn’t feel what she felt. I am sorry I didn’t realise this exercise is at the beginning, but now I realise how healing it is. She was my one and only, the first and the last girl I had.”
• Young man – “When I had to take stones to the front there, it made me ask myself who has to be next before something happens. Do I have to be infected before there’s change? Or do I need to be an example? Or must I be the one to die first before there’s change?”
• Mother – “A feeling of sadness comes over me. I didn’t do anything for three people I’ve lost. For the first time I am forced to acknowledge that these people suffered so painfully. As I speak now, last week I was burying my uncle and I did not help him enough.” 
• Young man – “When I took the stone, I remembered someone crying for help and I didn’t help. They were crying for help from me and I ignored them.”
• Schoolgirl – “When I took the stones to the front there, I remembered my cousin who died at nine months. His name was Mohau (meaning mercy). Mohau had not done anything wrong to deserve to die but the silence, the culture and our religion prevented us from talking in the family. Although I was told not to talk at home because of religion and culture, now I talk to people and I tell them that my uncle is HIV-positive. Even though you won’t see me with tears running down my face, I am dying inside. If I could turn back the hands of time, I would do things differently.”
• Father – “When I had to pick a stone and lay it down at the front, I thought of my four family members who were very dear to me. First it was my aunt who died. Then my two sisters who came after me. But the worst is the mother of my two kids. I feel bad that I did not manage to help them but I couldn’t because they lived too far away. As men we are ashamed to cry, but it helps to let it all out. If you don’t cry, you will fall down on the ground with pain some day.”

Storytelling

Telling stories is a way for people to understand how they affect each other’s lives. It helps people to name their experiences and see what they need to change.

At the Galeshewe conversation, a facilitator asked the participants to build on the following story outline:

“In the province of Northern Cape, in the Sol Plaatje municipality, there is a township called Galeshewe. In this township there live two families, the Modise and the Mthimkhulu families, who attend the same church. The Modise family has a daughter named Sarah, who is 21 years old and a student at the University of the Free State. The Mthimkhulu family has a son named Thabo who is 27 years old and works as a teacher in Galeshewe.

“They are both loved in the community and have many friends. Sarah and Thabo have decided to get married. An announcement is made in the church and lobola is paid. While arranging for the big day, Sarah gets sick and has to go to the clinic. The doctor tells her that she is HIV-positive.”

These are some of the responses to this story:
If I were Sarah:
• I would commit suicide without telling anyone so that everyone would think it was something else like stress. (Schoolboy; many others agreed)
• I would tell him so that we would go for testing and know our status together. I would take my Bible and pray and then tell my boyfriend. If he loves he will accept me, but if he dumps me, he never loved me. (Older woman)

If I were Thabo:
• I would be surprised and I would go and get tested. Whatever the result, I would still support and love her. (Older man)
• Because we are religious people, I would accept her. (Older woman)
• I would go through with the wedding and only after that would I ask her to come with me for counselling at the church. (Older man)
• Let’s take a realistic approach to this situation, people. I am a teacher, and my fiancée is at university. We met at church. I would ask her where the hell she got it from. Then I would tell her “gaan weg met jou VIGS!” (get away with your AIDS) (Young man)
• I would first marry her so that she gets her chance at marriage like she wanted. Then I would immediately divorce her because I don’t want to be married to a sick person. What will I do with a sick wife? She must give the many other girls out there their chance to marry me as well. (Schoolboy; many others agreed)

If I were Sarah/Thabo’s family:

• I would fulfil my responsibility as a parent and ask my daughter’s decision on the matter. If she still loves him, I would respect that and support them. (Man)
• I would tell her to go away and call the wedding off. (Youth)
• I would allow them to get married because when two people love each other, you cannot stop them. (Man)
• I would call a meeting between the two families and if they agree to getting married, I would bless their marriage. (Youth)
• Marriage is not just about love, this woman has to bear children for me, and I can’t have a child with someone who is HIV-positive. I would kick her out. (Schoolboy)

If I were Sarah’s community:

• Tell them to go ahead with the wedding. Counsel them as a couple. (Woman)
• There are three things that kill our people: not taking responsibility, stigma and ignorance. These things are all based on denial. (Priest)

After some music performed by DJ Miss Grace from Radio Teemaneng, the community nominated representatives who would form a working team that would carry forward their plans.

Challenges and successes

Attendance was eventually about double the capacity of the hall, though the event started with too few people. Having a large group makes it difficult to follow all the steps of the process in time. However, this shows that the media campaign was a success. Also, the municipal transport and co-operation of schools helped get people there.
Burning Issues

The community of Galeshewe brought up these issues as their strongest concerns:

• Encouraging testing and counselling
• Encouraging disclosure
• Lack of support system

Again, poverty and substance abuse were identified as creating vulnerability and risk.

Agreements reached

A committee was elected consisting of representatives from each of the community groups. They agreed to begin by meeting other stakeholders on a specified date, but those stakeholders – including government departments, NGOs and faith-based organisations – did not attend despite committing to do so. Dates were set for further meetings to introduce the action committee to stakeholders.