The Challenge
HIV/AIDS and a Missing Generation of Parents
An entire generation of parents are dying as HIV/AIDS continues to ravage South Africa. Families are under tremendous stress as fathers and mothers who should be the primary caregivers are dying at an alarming rate leaving behind only grandparents and orphaned children.
Today, more than 5.5 million South Africans are infected with HIV with 1000 people dying each day from AIDS related causes. 71% of the deaths of those aged 15 – 49 years old are attributed to AIDS. There are more than 1.2 million orphans due to AIDS.
Kwazulu Natal has the highest prevalence rate (reportedly 50%) of all the provinces in South Africa. Sadly, the South African women are most impacted, as they are 4 times more likely than men to have the disease and over 30% of all pregnant women are infected.
The problems of poverty and HIV/AIDS seem to go hand in hand. It is in this situation that Zimele believes it can make a genuine difference in the lives of so many who see no hope.
Poverty
According to joint studies done by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and Mr Andrew Whiteford, a South African economist, households have sunk even deeper into poverty with a widening income discrepancy between rich and poor. With its large, poor population KwaZulu-Natal has the biggest collective poverty gap of all the South African states. A recent report states that “Approximately 57% of individuals in South Africa were living below the poverty income line in 2001, unchanged from 1996.”
Broken Value System
South africa has the highest rate of violent deaths in the world. Rape, drugs and prostitiution are prevalent in many areas. All of this can be summed up as a lack of respect for life. Respect for one’s own life as well as others is often missing. A common myth spread by witch doctors is that one can be cured by having sexual intercourse with a virgin and therefore many young girls are raped. According to the BBC, "one in four girls faces the prospect of being raped before the age of 16." The Medical Research Council (MRC) reports that 1 out of 4 men admit to commiting rape one or multiple time. Men pay extra to have unprotected sex with prostitutes who may very well have HIV and sexual promiscuity without condoms amongst the teenagers is prevalent. Even anti-retroviral drugs that are meant to treat HIV/AID are being bought and smoked by teenagers in South Africa to get high according to the BBC.
Kwazulu Natal
Kwazulu Natal also known as "KZN" is a province in the eastern part of South Africa.
Kwazulu Natal has 3 distinct areas. The lowland region which lies next to the Indian Ocean is very narrow in the south but widens as it moves into northern Kwazulu Natal. The central area is called the Natal Midlands. This is a plateau with hills rising in the west. There are also two mountainous areas; the Drakensberg Mountains in the west and the Lebombo Mountains in the north. The province’s largest river, the Tugela River, runs from the west to the east cutting through the center of the province.
According to the Wikipedia, Kwazulu Natal “has the largest population (about 8.6 million) of any state in South Africa, with resources, such as water, coal, minerals and agriculture, along with timber, beef, dairy products, maize, poultry and fruit. Durban is the largest port in Africa. The province also has the most comprehensive tourist infrastructure in the country.
However, despite the presence of these resources, Kwazulu Natal like much of South Africa faces the growing problem of HIV/AIDS and poverty which disproportionally impacts the blacks in the rural communities due to the lingering effects of the now former Apartheid system.
Hope for the Region
Traditionally, blacks in South Africa grew up in an environment that encouraged a economic and social dependence upon others rather than independence. While they now have more constitutional freedom, very few blacks has been able to achieve economic and emotional freedom.
Zimele hopes to turn around the current conditions by offering long term solutions rather than short term temporary ones. Many programs in the region currently do little more than offer free food without teaching people to be productive or providing jobs for them to earn an income. Zimele believes in empowering and healing these people through its programs while building a sense of community, accountability, and justice for women and children. In other words, the primary goals is to build hope. By developing this spirit of hope, Zimele hopes to give the Kwazulu Natal region a new beginning.
Zimele’s philosophy revolves around the goal of becoming self sufficient. Through improved education and community driven mentorship programs, micro finance driven capital projects, and the removal of social and cultural stumbling blocks, Zimele strives to see changes in the lives of South Africans.
