PRUDENCE MABELE

Beat It! 2002 Episode 6 - Support Group

In this insert the links between fear, ignorance and stigma and discrimination and the impact that treatment can have on these problems was explored through the experience of support group member Corné Fourie.

Beat It! 2002 Episode 8 - Support Group

In this episode Support Group member Nomandla introduced us to her son Thami who is HIV positive and on ARVs.

Beat It! 2002 Episode 9 - Support Group

The Support Group, after having watched an insert about support group member Faghmeda Miller's experiences with ARVs, discussed ARVs in their lives and the side effects some of them encountered.

Beat It! 2002 Episode 10 - Support Group

In this episode of Beat It! the Support Group discussed their experiences within the public healthcare sector. Dr Nombulelo shared necessary information on the treatment of herpes. In the Special Report we looked at nurses and the burden they carry because of the HIV epidemc.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 2 - Sexually transmitted infections

In this episode of Siyayinqoba Beat It! the team discussed sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The inserts focused on the prevalence of STIs amongst the youth which in turn got the support group to discuss how prevention messaging can be improved to bring about behaviour change in the youth when it comes to sex.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 3 - Beating HIV at work

The Siyayinqoba Beat It! Support Group talked about the rights of HIV positive people at work in this episode. As an example the team used workers at a mine of Anglo Gold Ashanti. With the help of legal practitioners, we learnt the importance of understanding our rights and how they can help us in the workplace. Fatima Hassan, from the AIDS Law Project, joined the group and helped to shed a bit of light on how the rights of people living with HIV can be defended. Later Jason summarised the episode with the week's ‘Things we should remember'.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 5 - Caring for Children on ARVs

Treatment Literacy and drug adherence are two related requirements that improve the success of the antiretroviral roll-out. This was reaffirmed by the Siyayinqoba Beat It! Team. What however are the additional challenges that HIV positive children face in firstly accessing ART and then taking it correctly. To help answer these questions the team met up with Joyce Kepe and her daughter Caroline in Mbekweni, Paarl. Dr Nombulelo then joined the group to explain the important things caregivers can do to prevent infections in HIV positive children.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 6 - Teachers beat HIV

In this episode the Siyayinqoba Beat It! support group learnt that there are quite a few educators who find it difficult to disclose their HIV status' at work or at home. So the team went to Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape to meet Nomachule Tayabi who shared her difficulties as an HIV positive educator. The support group was then joined by Dr David Mbetse, a SADTU HIV/AIDS officer, who encouraged educators to be open about their HIV positive status.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 9 - How Social Grants Can Help Us

The Siyayinqoba Beat It! Team investigated the role social grants play in the response to the HIV epidemic. The team met with Thelile in Tugela, KwaZulu Natal who had recently accessed social grants. Thelile was using the grants to help take care of her siblings after her parents had passed away from AIDS. The social grant system was then discussed further with in house guest Dr Nalega Constance Kganakga from the Department of Social Development.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 10 - Caring for AIDS orphans

This tenth episode in the 2004 series of Siyayinqoba Beat It! focused on AIDS orphans; children who have lost their parents because of HIV/AIDS. We met little Andisiwe and her sister and heard about the hardships that they went through and how they are being taken care of. Cati Vawda from the Children's Rights Centre furthered the discussion around these vulnerable children as the episode's in house guest.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 12 - Positive living beats HIV

In this episode we followed Anthony Fernandes and Busisiwe Maqungo, two support group members, to a fresh produce store where they bought all the essential food types for a healthy balanced diet. Dr Nombulelo Madala joined the support group to discuss the important food types and why an HIV positive person needs a balanced diet. ‘Uncle' John Vollenhoven also showed us his food garden initiative in Atlantis in the Western Cape.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 13 - PMTCT

The Siyayinqoba Beat It! team followed Busisiwe's story about the death of her daughter Nomazizi; how her loss changed her perception of HIV and how she rose from that challenge. Dr Nombulelo Madala was in the studio again to answer questions about the prevention-of-mother-to-child-transmission programme.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2005 Episode 13 - HIV in the SANDF

Our constitution states that discrimination on the basis of one's gender, sexual orientation and any unfair discrimination is not acceptable and yet by not employing people living with HIV or AIDS, the South African National Defence Force continues to discriminate against people living with HIV. The SANDF is exempt from key legislation which is the basis of South Africa's non-discriminatory policy on HIV/AIDS. The support group debated and questioned why the law allows this kind of discrimination to continue in the South African Defence Force.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2005 Episode 21 - Living with a disability and HIV

Many people living with HIV/AIDS are also living with different kinds of disabilities. Does HIV/AIDS awareness and education reach people with disabilities? Are our healthcare services sensitive to the needs of people with disabilities? Through the experiences of John Meletse of the Gay and Lesbian Archives (GALA), Buyile Vava and other members of Disabled People of South Africa (DPSA) and parliamentarian, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, the Siyayinqoba support group shared ideas on what can be done to help people cope more easily with living with disability and the challenges of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.