BLESSERS - HIV AIDS AWARENESS
Our cofounder Jayshree Mallaya who was born in KwaZulu Natal the province worst affected is on a mission to educate and empower our youth especially our young girls to understand the risks and challenges young people face not only in Africa but especially in KwaZulu Natal. To get youth involved in self care and HIV AIDS prevention we are working with young artists from our communities. With the recent coronavirus pandemic, quarantines and lockdown its increased the financial and socioeconomic problems the country faces placing more pressure on our youth to see this as a lucrative option.
Helpline Numbers:
National AIDS Helplin0800 012 322
| Cape Town | +27 (0)21 763 5320 |
| Durban | +27 (0)31 300 3104 |
| Pietermaritzburg | +27 (0)33 345 0781/9 |
| Polokwane | +27 (0)15 290 2363 |
| East London | +27 (0)43 705 2969 |
| Witbank | +27 (0)13 690 2604 |
| Roodepoort | +27 (0)11 761 6089 |
| Johannesburg | +27 (0)11 355 3394 |
| Sebokeng | +27 (0)16 988 1064/5 |
| Harrismith | +27 (0)58 713 2572 |
| National office | Tel: +27 (0)11 872 0975 Fax: +27 (0)11 872 1343 |
| Eastern Cape | Tel: +27 (0)41 487 3397 Fax: +27 (0)41 487 3397 |
| Free State | Tel: +27 (0)51 444 4199 Fax: +27 (0)51 444 4199 |
| Gauteng | Tel: +27 (0)11 720 3349 Fax: +27 (0)11 720 3349 |
| KwaZulu Natal | Tel: +27 (0)31 300 3194 Fax: +27 (0)31 305 5032 |
| Mpumalanga | Tel: +27 (0)13 741 3031(ext. 114) Fax: +27 (0)13 752 3770 |
| Cape Town | +27 (0)21 447 1467 counsellors: +27 (0)21 447 9762 |
| Khayelitsha | +27 (0)21 361 9228 counsellors: +27 (0)21 361 9085 |
| Heideveld | +27 (0)21 633 9229 |
| East London | +27 (0)43 743 7266 +27 (0)43 722 2000 |
| Pietermaritzburg | +27 (0)33 394 4444 |
| Stellenbosch | +27 (0)83 244 4887 (24 hour) |
| George | +27 (0)83 212 6181 (24 hour) |
| Somerset West | +27 (0)83 484 9409 (24 hour) |
| POWA (rape counselling) | +27 (0)11 642 4345 / 6 +27 (0)11 642 4369 +27 (0)11 642 4355 / 6 +27 (0)11 642 4383 +27 (0)11 642 4331 |
Blessers Culture in South Africa
According to a recent recent HSRC study shows that almost a quarter of all new infections occur amongst young women aged 15 – 24. This is a serious problem that is affecting the young generation as the young girls who are unknowingly getting infected by old men who are infected are them spreading it to their boyfriends and even to their newborn babies.
Zikalala said in KZN alone, there are more than two million people living with HIV. Zikalala said ‘blessers’ should stop buying young girls airtime or giving them pocket money in order to have sex with them. Premier Zikalala encouraged young people to abstain from having sex for as long as possible.
“Young people must abstain from sex and when they do decide to have a partner, they must get tested together and ensure they use condoms. The call is for all of us to “Cheka Impilo” – to check regularly to make sure they are negative.”
( Source: www.oil.co.za December 2020)
During reproductive health month, RIGHT TO CARE an HIV/AIDS Not-for-Profit Organisation has called on South African healthcare workers to actively implement and support strategies that target people at risk and ‘blessers’ who are driving the HIV epidemic among young women. (Source: www.right to care.org April 2020)
Blessers Song Video Shoot
HIV / AIDS via Blessers
HIV being spread via Blessers has become a topic under the spotlight. Studies show that Blessers usually between the age of 45-49 are responsible for the spread of HIV amongst the youth between the ages of 16-25. Young females who contract the disease from older Blessers contribute to the spread of HIV by having multiple partners and unprotected sex. Older men and women Blessers often insists that their young intimate partners have unprotected sex, it is also common for pregnancies arising from these relationships to be denied by the “Blesser’s” thus further causing the rise in infections and single under-aged parenting.
The Spread of AIDS in Sub Saharan Africa
A question is often posed as to why young females and males take to “Blesser’s” so often in Sub Saharan poor countries. Some of the key factors include, lack of sexual education, lack of self worth and life goal knowledge, poverty & peer pressure. It has been recorded that “Blesser’s” will offer to buy poor young girls and boys school clothes, hair wigs to be popular in school, stationery etc in exchange for sex. Unprotected sex with multiple partners then becomes the issue as most of these youth do not realise that they become infected with HIV and in later in life develop relationships with sexual partners within their own age group – leading to a larger spread of HIV within the communities.
Blessers in the News:
Women who lived off blessers tell their story
‘Author of I’m Still Here! Lebo Motsumi, now 30, was left HIV positive after a life of indulgence and community radio host, Khanyi Shiburi had to drop out of school as a result of being distracted by the lifestyle. Now, they tell Move! about how the blessee life is a so-called blessing that almost destroyed their lives.
Source: https://www.news24.com/drum/News/
The Blessers Curse
How sugar daddies and vaginal microbes created the world’s largest HIV epidemic. In a country where two-thirds of people under age 25 are unemployed, some poor South African women and teens date older, wealthier men, who provide them with everything from food to hairpieces to school uniforms. In exchange, the men demand discreet, often condom-free sex.
Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/
Educate & Empower
Through education we can empower our youth to make informed decisions that will benefit their lives. Having healthy life goals ensures that the youth pursue independence both emotionally and financially thus alleviating the transaction of of sex for materialistic items.
Creative outlets such as music and graphics capture the attention of the youth and helps to educate the youth about positive messages. Over the Walls Togethers aims to Join Hands to young talented individuals to create a wave of positive change.