The positive connection
2005-09-25 22:27
Special Report
President Jacob Zuma has announced new measures to expand South Africa's response to HIV/Aids.
Johannesburg - Real love, as they say, can be hard to find. And, the odds of coming across a caring partner are even slimmer if you're open about being HIV-positive.
But, what if you confined your search to a group of people who had also contracted the virus? Would this increase the chances of finding a significant other?
These types of questions prompted Ben Sassman to set up an online dating agency in South Africa two years ago, for people living with HIV/Aids.
The internet enthusiast says his HIV-positive friends would complain of how prospective dates tended to slip away the moment they disclosed their status.
As a result, www.thepositiveconnection.co.za, was born.
Has the site lived up to expectations?
On the financial side, Sassman said he's disappointed the flurry of media attention which accompanied the agency's launch has not translated into corporate support. "They (large firms) do not want to associate their brand names with my site," he said.
This has put a spoke in plans to conduct an online marketing campaign to attract more visitors.
Membership has yet to hit the 300 mark, when Sassman plans to introduce a fee for joining the agency. At present, signing up is free.
The agency also has to contend with South Africa's gaping "digital divide".
While there would appear to be no shortage of clients for thepositiveconnection.co.za in a country with a 21.5% HIV prevalence rate (according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids), a hefty proportion of those living with HIV/Aids are simply too poor to log on to the web regularly - if at all.
Those who have access to the agency, however, find themselves confronted with a diverse array of personalities.
Set on a bright yellow background, the homepage of the site features images and links to tips on condom use, getting tested for HIV and information about the nature of the virus. Subscribers can post personal ads, upload photos (also voice and video clips), and even chat instantly with other members.
"MC", one of the women registered with the site, described herself as light-skinned and hazel-eyed. The 29-year-old Zambian health worker "would really love to find an honest loving man to share my love and life with".
She said her ideal match would be a Christian, and if he is HIV-negative, he "must be willing to accept my status".
"Babes29", another 29-year-old, lives in East London.
"I am an HIV-positive lady who is very sensitive and down to earth," she writes. "I am a go-getter, (an) honest, reliable person; am a very principled person."
Richard Yell, a gay motivational speaker, also signed up to the site - although he believes he may have met his match through another online dating service, for gays.
The former marketer's experience on sites for HIV-positives has convinced him of their importance. "Nobody contacted me for months except him (the new-found partner) and I believe this was really only since he was HIV-positive himself," Yell said.
Critics of agencies such as the ''thepositiveconnection.co.za'' claim they isolate HIV-positive people, thereby strengthening the stigma which many who have contracted the virus still endure.
For Yell, the possible social impact of online sites matters less than the benefits they stand to deliver. "We all need someone to love - and to be loved by somebody gay or straight, black or white, HIV-positive or negative," he said.
- SAPA