Above: Teenager and gran .. Jan Maehesu is being looked after by his grandmother after the AIDS-related death of his mother.By Ed Merrison
A FERNTREE Gully charity worker involved with HIV and AIDS in South Africa has been touring Australia to share her view of the epidemic and efforts to combat it.
Oxfam Australia’s HIV and AIDS advocacy coordinator Alison Wells is coordinating the Australian tour of a photographic exhibition which highlights the positive work undertaken by Oxfam and its community partners in South Africa.
Ms Wells organised the exhibition, which contains 40 works by high-profile South African photographers Matthew Tillman and Paul Weinberg and opens in Melbourne today (Tuesday) after stints in Perth and Sydney.
Ms Wells is being accompanied by guest speaker Thabisile Khosa, a young South African social worker.
Ms Khosa will talk about the strength and resilience of people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa at the next Dandenong Ranges Oxfam meeting at Kallista Community House tomorrow.
Ms Wells has lived in Ferntree Gully for two years and held her position with Oxfam Australia for more than three years. She works closely with the South Africa program and has visited the country a couple of times in her current role.
“The exhibition is to increase awareness of how HIV and AIDS are impacting on South Africa and its families, and also to highlight the ability of communities to respond positively to the challenges of HIV and AIDS,” Ms Wells said.
“It also shows that people living with HIV and AIDS are just like you and me, and to build understanding of those people.
“It also raises awareness of the work Oxfam Australia is doing in South Africa.”
Ms Wells’s work also involves trying to lobby the Australian Government to increase funding for the AIDS crisis in poor countries and act as an advocate for change in policies that affect treatment of the disease.
“I also want to say ‘don’t forget about Africa’. If we don’t help Africa now we’re only going to pay for it later,” Ms Wells said.
But despite the hardships encountered in Ms Wells’s work, she retains a positive attitude and believes there is much that can be done.
“I love what I do and I’m passionate about working with HIV and AIDS,” she said. “It can be challenging when you work with people with HIV and you know they’re not going to be around forever.”
Ms Khosa is also able to use her own experience to do good.
“Being HIV positive myself helps me relate to the challenges of the people we work with, as well as provide encouragement and serve as a role model towards those who are affected and infected,” she said.
Thabisile Khosa will be speaking at the Kallista Community House tomorrow (Wednesday) at 8pm.
The photographic exhibition A Positive View will open at fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne from 5.30pm to 7.30pm today, and runs until Saturday.
