08 October 2008
South African Reading Projects Target AIDS Awareness, Science
United States sets up health kiosk to provide information to residents
Mamelodi, South Africa — In this dusty, crowded township of about 400,000 people, the South African government is driving forward a policy that is key to the country’s survival of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to its long-term economic growth: reading.
The U.S. government supports this policy by financing and programming two reading projects in Mamelodi: the Mae Jemison Science Reading Room on the Mamelodi campus of Pretoria University, and the U.S. Health Kiosk at the Stanza Bopape branch of the Tshwane Community Library in another section of the township.
“We had several unused storage rooms on our campus,” said Isaiah Manele of Pretoria University. “We were interested in developing a community educational outreach, so when the U.S. Embassy proposed putting in a science reading room, we were happy to accept.”
The three-room science educational facility is named in honor of Mae Jemison, the first black female American astronaut. Jemison plans to attend the opening dedication of the educational facility in late October or November.
“The idea behind the reading room is to generate the joy of reading about science and math among secondary students,” said Mark Dobson, the director of the American Library in Pretoria. “If we can help create this spark, then it is hoped that they will go on to careers in math and science, which the South African government is trying to encourage.” The South African government has identified math and science education as a basic requirement for long-term economic growth.
The Mae Jemison facility will have a collection of 800 books devoted to science and math and another 1,700 dealing with general American studies. Visitors will be able to browse 60 magazines, half of them about science and mathematics while the other 30 deal with a broad range of other topics and will include publications such as Sports Illustrated, Time and The New Yorker.
The second room will house five public computers connected to two databases — one about health, because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic ravaging the country, the other focusing on science. This room will also have interactive displays and a collection of DVDs. The third room will be used for video conferencing, enabling visitors to view programs from the Discovery and National Geographic U.S. television channels and attend interactive lectures given by professors in the United States.
“The whole point of the interactives and displays is to get the youths interested in the book collection. At the end of the day, we want them to check out books and read them,” Dobson said.
Six or seven high schools with a total of some 8,000 students are within walking distance of the science education center, which will be open to the public.
“We here at Mamelodi campus would like to link the science and math facility to the community outreach classes that we have on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons,” Manele said. “We want the teachers to come with their students so that both benefit.”
A few kilometers away in the sprawling township is the Stanza Bopape branch of Tshwane Community Library where the United States recently opened a “health kiosk,” a small room housing computer terminals, DVDs and about 100 books dealing with health issues. The kiosk is intended to provide information about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in an area where the topic too often is veiled in superstition, rumor and lack of information.
The kiosk, opened under the auspices of the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), “is helping us teach the young people about the danger of this disease,” said librarian Lucas Machipa.
Before the kiosk was opened, the best information that Machipa could provide about HIV/AIDS was a two-page explanation of the disease in the British Medical Association’s “Complete Family Health Guide.”
“The schools send the children here to learn more. We are very, very appreciative for what the U.S. government has done for us,” he added.
Machipa said he helps students get materials to write oral presentations about HIV/AIDS. “If they have to research and write a prepared speech about HIV/AIDS, then they are able to learn about the disease in a scientific way,” he said.
Dobson, who played an instrumental role in opening the health kiosk in September, said he plans to work with Machipa to hold a number of AIDS awareness activities, such as an essay contest.
“That would be very, very good,” Machipa said with a smile.
Machipa also organizes a poetry session at the library each Friday afternoon. This provides a forum for community members to express their feelings about HIV/AIDS. Between 100 and 150 people attend the readings, which he said have the added benefit of encouraging writing skills.
“There are many teenage boys and girls who have left school and are involved with drugs. When they come to the poetry sessions, they learn about the danger that is facing them.”
For more information see the “HIV/AIDS: The Search for a Cure” timeline and America.gov resources on Global Health.
