Khomanani Day

Today is Khomanani Day in South Africa - "Khomanani Day is a national social mobilisation campaign focusing on the impact of HIV and AIDS – promoting Community, Action, Partnership and Awareness".

In an effort to drive home the message about HIV and AIDS and get people to acknowledge it, people are being encourage to make little pledges to themselves. These aren't monetary pledges like on Red Nose Day, but rather little personal pledges. For those with no idea or are a bit stumped for a pledge, the campaign has 4 types of pledge:

Care –help orphans and other vulnerable children
Talk – to your children, to your colleagues to your family, to your community
Test – know your status, get tested for HIV
Condomise – always practice safe sex

The whole campaign is detailed on the https://www.aidsinfo.co.za. Check it out sometime.

I think this is a brilliant idea and I really think this needs to become a world-wide campaign, especially in countries which aren't as affected as South Africa, like the US and the UK - these are 1st world countries which haven't been hit as hard, but things are changing and if people aren't slapped in the face with it, they're not going to be aware.

Oh, if you're curious, khomanani is a XhiTsonga word that means holding/caring together