It’s 16 Days
of Activism for No Violence Against Women and
Children again. 16 Days of Activism is an international campaign that takes
place every year from 25 November (International Day for
the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to 10
December (International Human Rights Day). The
period includes Universal Children’s Day and World
AIDS Day. LoveEtched has felt compelled to speak out against violence
against women and children in our small little way. What is wrong with our
world? What has infected our beloved SA? What will it take to turn things
around?
These are just some of the thoughts and questions I have as I survey the many stories I hear and read about as reflect back on the direct impact this issue has had on me on those that I know. I don't want to get into. Not too deep anyway. But then again, it is because of this "I don't want to get into it", " I don't want to look" attitude that often finds us in situations we have no idea how to fix, situations that shake us to the core and obscure a future that once seemed so bright. Children stab each other in schools, and more recently shoot each other in cold blood. Where am I!? Am I the only one who is scared? Am I the only one who knows this is just not how it is supposed to be?
I thought about these questions and thought, I MUST find out. So a little Whatsapp message I received from my elder sister Mandisa elicited a mini-project that would see me seeking some of the thoughts that exist around the 16 days campaign and the relevance of these within the bigger scheme of our challenges. The question: “If I had a white t-shirt and you had a black permanent marker, what would you write on my t-shirt?” And so #WhiteTshirtBlackMarker was spawned. If you had a white T-shirt and a black permanent marker, what message or statement would you have around 16 Days of Activism and the Global challenge of HIV/Aids?
Be it words
of encouragement, disdain, hope or the opposite, I’d like for you to send me
through videos, your white-t and with your statement or simply email me. What is
on your mind? What has the state of affairs with regards to violence had you’re
your beliefe system and general feeling toward home – whether you were born
here or not? I’d love to hear it. Lets start the conversation and begin to
become the solution to what is ultimately a societal quandary.
 |
| "Their" struggle is mine. |
Aboveis my
statement and stance on largely the HIV/Aids pandemic and my voice of support
for the greater international campaign that is 16 Days of Activism.
Aim high, Roam free...
1 comment:
It's often said that we're either infected or affected by HIV. To be infected is to live with the virus. To be affected, by definition, is to be touched, disturbed, distressed, upset, shaken or moved...
I am moved to play my part in the fight.
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