TAC’s General Secretary, Vuyiseka Dubula, and Chairperson, Nonkosi Khumalo, will be presented with the John M. Lloyd Award in recognition of their leadership in HIV/AIDS. The award, presented by the John M. Lloyd Foundation, is intended to recognize, develop and empower HIV/AIDS advocacy leaders that have not yet been extensively recognized.

It acknowledges the remarkable work these two women have done in two pre-eminent HIV/AIDS organizations in South Africa: the Treatment Action Campaign and the AIDS Law Project. In bestowing this award, The John M. Lloyd Foundation hopes that it will help to amplify the impact of their work.

The Foundation was created by John M. Lloyd (1948-1991) to seek solutions to the AIDS epidemic. He believed that the AIDS crisis was increasingly due to the lack of wisdom, compassion, and common sense within our communities, rather than to a lack of medical knowledge. John M. Lloyd believed in seeking the root causes of problems, rather than merely treating their symptoms.

Vuyiseka and Nonkosi will be presented with their award on 5 March 2010 in Los Angeles, USA.   Well done and well deserved – Positive Heroes salutes you both!!

Positive Heroes applauds President Zuma’s landmark speech, made in the National Council of Provinces on HIV/AIDS on 29 October 2009, in which he acknowledged that the fear and shame that have surrounded the epidemic must be overcome.

In his speech, President Zuma said: “All South Africans must know that they are at risk and must take informed decisions to reduce their vulnerability to infection, or, if infected, to slow the advance of the disease. Most importantly, all South Africans need to know their HIV status, and be informed of the treatment options available to them.

Though it poses a grave threat to the well-being of our nation, HIV and AIDS should be treated like any other disease. There should be no shame, no discrimination, no recriminations. We must break the stigma surrounding AIDS.”

Positive Heroes believe’s that all South Africans should feel secure accessing testing, treatment, care and support without fear, shame or discrimination.

Positive Heroes Unique Fashion Event, held Thursday 8 October, at The Runway in Cape Town raised more than R80,000.

The event attracted some of South Africa’s best-known designers, including Gavin Rajah, Stiaan Louw, KLûK CGDT, Maya Prass, Craig Port, Hip Hop, X&O and many others. More than 400 people attended, including many of Cape Town’s fashionistas who came to support Positive Heroes and the important work they are doing in reducing stigma and normalising HIV.

Apart from the designers who enthusiastically supported this event, all those involved including the models, make-up artists, stylists, waiters/bar staff, the venue, production staff and DJ gave their services for free or at greatly reduced rates. This generosity helped the charity surpass all expectations for the evening.

Items donated by each designer were expertly auctioned off by MCQP’s Ian McMahon and CNBC’s Talia Sanhewe. Items included additional contributions from Levi Strauss, Jasper Conran, Barbara Jackson, Carol Boyes, Jacques Azagury and others.

The event raised much needed money for the charity and also has helped the charity in getting its message to a wider audience. “The event was just overwhelmingly successful” says Brooke Fasani, Positive Heroes’ Creative Director, “we are a small tightly run charity and will ensure the funds are spent effectively to spread a message of hope that HIV is manageable and can be an inspiration to live life to the fullest.”

The event was sponsored by MANGO Airlines, Sirius Productions, Blend Eventlife, Peroni and Nestle.

Richard Westoby, Steven Edwards and Positive Heroes are pleased to announce a photographic exhibition of some of Richard’s work titled “I dream of Africa” and on Wednesday 28th and Thursday the 29th, October 2009 at the Hub Culture Pavillion in Kingly Court on Carnaby Street.

Richard has been inspired by Africa, it’s people, wildlife and topography and regularly daydreams about his 4 months living and travelling around Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and South Africa in 2008 – hence the title of the show.

Positive Heroes is a South-African charity that both Richard and Steven are very much directly involved with that is based in Cape Town and the proceeds from the sale of any photographs will be going directly to the charity. We are also suggesting a £10 donation on the door which once again will be going directly to the charity. [Thanks to tremendous support the event raised over £15,000]

RSVP. Richard Westoby on richardwestoby@hotmail.com

Positive Heroes is hosting a ‘Unique Fashion Show’ on Thursday 8th October 2009.

The event will showcase many of Cape Town’s top designers including: Gavin Rajah, Maya Prass, Stiaan Louw, Craig Port, Lunar, Stefania Morland, Kulk CGDT, Strip Clothing, Habits, Hip Hop, Etail Revolution, Kim Govaars for X&O, Cherokee, shop-label.com and others.

After the catwalk show, there’ll be an auction of designer outfits and goodies, and an after party with top DJ Gareth Devore spinning the decks!

The event is kindly sponsored by MANGO Airlines, BLEND eventlife, Peroni, Nestle Gold.

So get your glad rags out the closet and be ready to fly down to The Runway, one of the coolest and hippest venues in Cape Town. See the event on facebook.

Tickets: R100. Please email / fax: your full name, number of tickets required and proof of payment to fashion@positiveheroes.org.za / (086) 557 6243

Make your EFT payment to:

Account name: Positive Heroes (South Africa)
Bank: First National Bank
Branch: Adderley Street
Branch Code: 201409
Account Number: 62157455695
Account Type: Cheque

Jorg Hasenbach generously asked his friends to donate to two charities instead of buying him gifts for his birthday.

This selfless initiative raised funds for Positive Heroes and an animal charity. An awesome R7,750 was raised and will be used on a project directed towards children who are living with HIV. As Positive Heroes relies totally on donations for it’s funding we are immensely grateful to Jorg and all his friends!

Nike’s Gamechangers competition was launched in November 2008, with the objective of finding an organization who uses sport to promote social change for women in South Africa. The competition concluded after it was opened to the public to cast their votes for the 3 finalists. Positive Heroes received an unprecedented number of votes, confirming that their initiatives are encouraging social change.

Evelina and the ultra marathon team are demonstrating to the world how people living with HIV can still realize their goals, with a combination of the right determination, and a positive attitude to life.

Says Evelina: ”I am proof that life is not over when you are HIV and that, like me, with determination and commitment, you too can be a winner by putting your mind to it.”

Positive Heroes CEO, Dr Reon van Dyk, says: “This award is a fantastic achievement for Positive Heroes. It goes to prove that people such as Evelina and all ordinary South Africans living with HIV can also achieve extraordinary lives. Positive Heroes and Evelina are changing how we see and respond to the challenge of HIV”.

The Positive Heroes ultra marathon team is powered by Discovery Health and sports equipment provided by Nike.

Positive Heroes Masibulele Gcabo, Willie Engelbrecht and Evelina Tshabalala all completed the arduous 89km Comrades Marathon with greatly improved times.

Masbulele finished in 7 hours and 56 minutes followed an hour later by Willie (8 hours, 56 minutes) and Evelina (10 hours).

These Positive Heroes help to show that ordinary South Africans, living with HIV, are capable of anything – even running one of the World’s hardest endurance races.

We are immensely grateful to Discovery Health and Nike for sponsoring the team and inspiring South Africans to live positively with HIV.

Thank you for your support so far – please vote again!

Please vote for Positive Heroes by SMSing “VOTE 1″ to 31799 (South Africa only).

Alternatively you can watch the video and vote online by visiting http://nikewomen.co.za/blog/ and, in the right hand side border, clicking on the yellow GameChangers icon (4th one down).

Voting ends: 29 May 2009

Thank you for your support – please ask your friends and contacts to vote as well.