'Oprah is giving us a chance'
2007-01-05 22:08
Bheki Mbanjwa
Johannesburg - Parents of children enrolled at Oprah's Leadership Academy for Girls have supported talk show host Oprah Winfrey's call to have all her pupils tested for HIV/Aids.
The results of the tests will in no way affect the girls' enrolment at the academy, said John Samuel, the Chief Operations Officer at the academy following Oprah Winfrey's statement - made during the official opening of the academy this week - that the girls will be tested for HIV/Aids after permission from guardians and parents had been obtained.
"The screenings are in line with the belief that effective learning requires intellectual, physical and emotional well-being. However this does not mean that if any of the girls were to test positive, they would be expelled from the school.
Those who test positive will be given all the necessary, psychological, medical and social support," Samuel said.
Girls will be supported
He added that there were already two fulltime psychologists at the academy and said the number of the two fulltime nurses was set to increase.
"This will ensure that the girls get all the support they need to ensure that the girls live successful lives. For those pupils who test positive there are many interventions we will be looking at, this not only includes treatment and psychological services but also ensuring that they live healthy
lifestyles. This is where things like our wellness centre comes into play,"he said.
In a statement Winfrey gave the assurance that the test results would be kept confidential and reiterated that the results will have no bearing on enrolment.
All the girls at the academy have been afforded full medical aid cover.
Khanyisile Memela, mother to Ntombifuthi, 13, said she supports the testing of the children. "This issue of HIV/Aids has come up over and over again in Nomathemba's school projects over the past year. We have both discussed it, and I went to do my test last year. I would also like her to take the test. I have no objection to that". Her sentiments were echoed by Nhlanhla Majozi, the father of 12-year-old Thokozani, who said he also sees
no problem with the HIV tests.
What matters most to Majozi is that he does not have to worry about how he is going to afford her daughter's education. "It feels like a heavy burden has been lifted off my shoulders, I am very grateful for this, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford my daughter the education she will be getting at her new school," says the unemployed father of three who supports
his family with his monthly disability grant.
His sentiments are shared by Memela, a domestic worker who also has three children.
Nomathemba and Thokozani, both from eNdaleni in Richmond are two of the three girls selected from Richlea Primary in Richmond.
- The Witness