December 1, 2004
By Tammy O'Reilly
THE Esselen Street Clinic in Hillbrow bustled with activity as volunteers geared up to begin day two of the City's 2004 HIV/Aids awareness campaign.
Some 60 volunteers, decked in gear bearing the HIV/Aids symbol, with water bottles and their most comfortable walking shoes, arrived to register. They are a fraction of the 2 900 volunteers the City of Johannesburg has trained and dispatched to the 11 regions around the city.
Armed with hampers of information booklets, stickers and boxes of condoms, the volunteers readily handed them out to people they passed as they made their way to the inner city, where they were to go door-to-door spreading the message about HIV and Aids.
"Everything is running smoothly - we haven't had any bad incidents. In fact, the people are responding very well to the volunteers," said team leader Dudu Thabethe.
The five-day campaign started on Monday, 29 November, bridging World Aids Day on Wednesday, 1 December.
About 170 volunteers were assigned to cover the inner city, which falls under Region 8.
Volunteers were put through a two-day training course. "We were taught basic information about HIV and Aids, how to spread awareness, how to teach people to use condoms properly, and how to tell people that they can get treatment," said Sunny Mogoane.
2 900 volunteers have been trained and dispatched to all 11 regions of Johannesburg
Many inner city residents are from other countries and in previous years volunteers encountered a problem with the language barrier, prompting members of the Nigerian and French-speaking communities to volunteer their services this year.
"I come from Nigeria and I want to help all the Nigerians living in South Africa. HIV/Aids affects all nations, not only South Africans," said Modestus Anuolam.
Day one of the campaign saw the volunteers tackle Berea, Hillbrow, and parts of Yeoville, with day two focussing on the other inner city areas.
Besides the door-to-door campaign, other activities include an entertainment and awareness programmes around the city.
"The campaign has been running for four years now and each year the response from the public is overwhelming," said Maki Kunene, co-ordinator of the City's HIV/Aids unit.
"However," Kunene added, "we are aware that five days is not enough to create proper awareness of the disease. This should be an ongoing campaign."
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