If I kept it to myself - World YWCA

Young women intervene in a world with AIDS
Phumzile Ndlovu
I feel a great sense of pride when I can assist even one
lonely, frightened, afflicted person living in isolation here.
When I completed high school in 1998, I
volunteered with the World Vision Child Survival
Programme, a project in my community of
Bergville, that aimed to improve the survival
of children through education on child health
issues. I worked with them for three years
as a sexuality educator giving HIV and AIDS
awareness courses at local schools. Early on I
attended a youth conference at KwaSizabantu,
where a delegation of “Doctors for Life”
presented their work with patients who were
terminally ill with AIDS. The personal testimonies
of the doctors and patients had a profound effect
on me. The door to this vocation was opened
when I encountered a child orphaned by AIDS
who had been adopted by one of the doctors.
The plight of this child wounded my inner being,
but the example set by the doctors sparked my
interest in care work, and in helping to save
lives by introducing people to the health system.
Many people have died and others are still dying
because they lack the information they need.
When the funding for the Child Survival
Programme came to an end, the community was
offered support by the KwaZulu Natal Department
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