Thursday 20 May 2004

This site will be updated on 27 May  2004 at 17:30

Lifestyle - Leefstyl

• There is life after Aids
• Learn to live positively
• Tobacco and family health
• Workshop for teachers
• Leer meer oor kanker

There is life after Aids

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HUNDREDS of people attended a candlelight memorial in Paarl's Toringkerk on Sunday, commemorating those infected and affected by HIV/Aids.

Indications are that there is a increase in the incidence of HIV in our area, said Mayor Herman Bailey in his address.

"We that are in a position to do something about this, what do we do?"
He urged people to look at moral values:.

REMEMBERING. A woman from Mbekweni lights a candle in remembrance of a loved one at Sunday's Aids Memorial Service.

"Through Biblical values we can address the epidemic.

"Let us live like Christians, like we are supposed to live."

The theme of the day, "Turning Remembrance into Action" found a resonance in the words of Rev Stephen Snyman: "Thank God we are not here as victims, but as survivors, victorious survivors".

Several people living with HIV/Aids or sufferers of the virus, shared their thoughts with the congregation.

Their feelings are best summarised in the words of Fanie de Villiers, who was diagnosed with the virus 18 years ago: "There is life after HIV/Aids. You may still dream, you may still live."

Fanie appealed to people for understanding: "Don't hurt us anymore, we're already wounded.

"Stop asking how someone got the virus, rather encourage and care for us."

The value of support groups was emphasised, helping to destigmatise the virus and helping families and friends to accept the reality of the epidemic.

Rev Christo Greyling from World Vision lead the sermon. He urges people to move from the "Why" to the "Therefore" and the "Then".

"God allows us the whys and He also helps us to move to the therefore."

Representative of organisations involved in HIV/Aids projects, as well as individuals, lit candles in commemoration

'HOPE in a time of Aids' was the message at the annual general meeting of the Christian Aids Bureau of SA (Cabsa) at Wellington recently.

"Hope has become quite a popular word in recent years in our country," said Logy Murray, director of Cabsa in the annual report.

"People are in need of hope. The onslaught of the Aids pandemic is certainly a major reason for this.

"Many who have heard the news that they are HIV positive say that it was like a death sentence to them - in that one moment life lost meaning, because they lost hope.

"Hope is working towards new possibilities. Hope is conquering negative ideas, attitudes, stigma and fear.

"Hope is reaching out in love to the stigmatised, the lonely, the left behind and the grieving.

"Hope is learning to life positively."

Rev Christo Greyling, the keynote speaker at the meeting, also talked on hope, saying the glimmers of hope in the fight against HIV/Aids was the work of God.

"Some of the shadows we can see in the figures of the World Bank, stating that one out of every ten young people has Aids."

He said 1,1 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 have the virus.

"This figure will fill 22 Newlands stadiums.

"What is terrible, is that people are dying of a manageable, treatable and preventable disease. It is an outcry against the Church."

Murray gave a summary of the report, concentrating on the "Churches, Channels of Hope" programme, amongst others.

The aim of the programme is to empower congregations with knowledge and skills to develop their own unique strategy on HIV and Aids, based on what is happening in their own communities.

It assists congregations to not only focus on outreach projects, but to build on the foundation of a Christ-like attitude, developing programmes for their own membership and synchronising it with community needs and responses.

For more information, contact the Bureau at tel/fax 873-0028 or e-mail logy@cabsa.co.za.

THE World No Tobacco Day is on 31 May and Cansa, together with all stakeholders promoting a Smoke Free Society have highlighted Tobacco and Family Health.

Leading a healthy lifestyle can significantly reduce the risk of cancer. Cigarettes contain over 4500 harmful chemicals and when a cigarette is lit, 85% of the smoke is released into the atmosphere as side-stream smoke.

Children in particular are vulnerable as their immune system is still being developed. Children who breathe second-hand smoke are more likely to get colds, allergies, middle ear infections and "glue ear" (the most common cause of deafness in children).

There are an estimated 1,2 billion regular smokers in the world today.

Smoking may cause heart attacks, strokes, blood vessel disease, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, peptic ulcers and impotence. Cancer of the lungs, throat, vocal cords, mouth, tongue, oesophagus, bladder, pancreas, kidney, stomach and cervix are also smoking related.

The World Health Organisation states that tobacco and poverty create a vicious cycle. Money spent on tobacco products reduces money spent on basic human needs such as food, shelter, education and healthcare.

Take up the Stop and Win challenge this month, for more information on this competition, collect an entry form from your nearest pharmacy or enter on

 www.stopandwin.ngo.za - Stop Line 011-720-3145.

For more information contact Cansa's Tollfree Information Service on 0800 22 66 22 or visit the Cansa website www.cansa.org.za 

TRAINING workshops for Intermediate Phase teachers (Grade 4 to 6) will be facilitated by experienced trainers.

The workshops are funded by the Oxford University Press, publisher of the trusted Oxford dictionaries and will be held at Mowbray Teachers College on 24 and 25 May and Thornton Primary on 26 and 27 May (14:00-16:00)

The workshops are based on Oxford's brand new Intermediate Phase learner support material, written specifically for the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS), a streamlined version of the OBE curriculum.  They have been designed to give teachers the skills and tools to feel confident in the classroom.

These materials will be given to teachers for free at the workshops along with guidance on how best to use them.

For more formation, teachers can call the Oxford Hotline on 0800 202 463 or Petra Maree on 082-561-3480.

DIE Kankervereniging van Suid-Afrika (Cansa) beplan opleiding vir vrywillige werkers gedurende Junie. 

Kursusgangers sal inligting omtrent kanker ontvang met die fokus op voorkoming en vroeë opsporing. Daar sal van kursusgangers verwag word om hierdie inligting in die gemeenskap te versprei. 

Die aspekte wat behandel sal word, is Wat is kanker?; waarskuwingstekens; diagnose en behandeling van kanker; tabak en verwante siektes; verskillende tipes kanker, soos bors-, servikale, prostaat-, testikulêre, vel- en dieetverwante kanker.

Bogenoemde onderwerpe word deur mediese praktisyns van die Paarl en Wellington behandel en beloof om baie insiggewend te wees. 

Indien u meer wil leer omtrent kanker en 'n bydrae in u gemeenskap wil lewer, skakel Mareé Lambrechts by 876-3589 gedurende kantoorure. Laat u naam en telefoonnommer op die antwoordmasjien en hulle sal so gou moontlik terugskakel.

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