NHA in the Community

NHA and International AIDS Day    18th December 2003

As part of NHA 's ongoing social responsibility programme within the local community, the Masiphumelele Health Forum recently benefited from NHA's assistance for their World Aids Day Celebrations on 01 December, 2003.

Masiphumelele is a small informal settlement near Fish Hoek and was established by residents who wanted to stay close to their place of work in 1993. Unfortunately, Masiphumelele is an area that has been identified with a very high incidence of HIV / Aids in the South Peninsula District and the Masiphumelele Health Forum therefore regularly hold Aids awareness campaigns in the area.
Normally, the Health Forum targets women, as these are mostly the people who attend the clinic. However, this year the clinic decided to target males too, as this would have a bigger impact on Aids Awareness all round. Following on from this, the Masiphumelele Soccer Cup Tournament was conceptualised for the World Aids Day Celebrations on 1 December 2003.

The objective of the event was to target the local male youth in the area and deliver the clinic's important message in terms of Aids Awareness. The format of the event was a soccer day involving numerous matches between the local teams and Ajax FC. Various other activities also took place such as netball and basketball tournaments and dance and choir groups also provided entertainment. NHA's involvement in the event was that of financial assistance for all the refreshments and food required for the hundreds of people who attended the event.

The day was a huge success in terms of driving home the clinic's message. The youth who attended were also very excited to be able to see, and speak to some of their soccer heroes.

NHA's valuable support and input meant that the Masiphumelele Clinic was successful in meeting their objectives. Since the event, the clinic have had more male youth coming in for Voluntary Counselling and Testing.