“You know, it’s sexually transmitted in South Africa. You know, that’s just nonnegotiable. But in the black community, people don’t talk sex very comfortably or easily. And because it’s a sexually transmitted disease they find it difficult to deal with. You know what I mean. A parent has to be open about sex to be able to discuss HIV/AIDS with their teenage kid,” she says.

Upon arrival at Nkosi’s Haven, young mothers are counseled first about accepting their HIV positive status.

“Very often,” says Johnson, “we find the mom has not disclosed to her children that she is positive. So, you’ve got kids moving in with us where everyone just talks HIV/AIDS because we normalize it totally. And (those children) are wondering why the hell they’re here. So mom is counseled around disclosure to her children. And then another step further after that is mom is counseled around having her children tested if they have not been tested.”

To break the cycle, Johnson says young women need to be empowered enough to say no to unprotected sex.

“You have to teach them the physiological side of sex,” she says, “the psychology of sex. You work at building their esteem, their ego, which, in turn, will allow them to say no. But at the moment they are so vulnerable because in their culture the woman hasn’t much say at the best of times.”

At the same time, she says boys must be taught that it’s ok to have smart, strong women in their lives.