Finding Shelter from AIDS at Nkosi’s Haven
23 December 2010
Some 30 years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, stigma and discrimination continue to take a toll. For example, in South Africa, some young, HIV positive mothers can find themselves homeless and shunned by their families. But there is a place where they can find shelter.
It’s called Nkosi’s Haven – named after Nkosi Johnson, a young, black South African boy. Nkosi was the star of the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban in 2000. Infected with HIV at birth, the frail child called for better medical treatment and encouraged HIV positive people to be open about their status.
“Care for us and accept us,” he said, “We are all human beings.” Nkosi Johnson died a year later at age 12.
Nkosi johnson, 13th International Aids Conference, Durban, 2000
Nkosi and his adoptive mother Gail Johnson, a white South African, had been working to help young HIV positive mothers. Women just like his biological mother. Nkosi’s Haven was founded in 1999 in a Johannesburg suburb.
“We’ve got the two houses next door to each other in Berea, where I have 9 moms and 47 kids. And then on the First of December last year we officially opened our Nkosi’s Haven Village, which is a main house with lots of cottages. And here I’ve got 31mothers and 94 children,” says Johnson.
The village is on two and a half acres of land just south of Johannesburg.
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