Ethiopia and the United States? Covered! Zambia and Zimbabwe? Pending! South Africa’s nine provinces? A few down and more to go!
Lebogang Brenda Motsumi is a 26 year old go-getter. As a proudly South African motivational speaker who gets invited across the country and to different parts of the world, Lebo is uniquely vibrant, passionate and optimistic. She openly shares her HIV-positive status but is clear that she is no victim. Rather, she is master and commander of her fate. And she is the mother of little Meekah, who is HIV-negative.
Lebo encourages everyone to reclaim control of their lives. She regularly uses her own story to help educate her audiences. Among her many areas of focus, Lebo voluntarily runs a support group at a hospital which she hopes will grow to accommodate more clients and patients, and she zealously promotes abstinence and defiance of peer pressure amongst young people. In the near future, she hopes to write a book that can be used in Life Skills courses, she wants to host story-sharing programs on television, and she is on a mission to produce an HIV and AIDS documentary.
This elegant heroine struggles to fund her passions, as do many champions. Whilst she has learned to charge for some of her services, she admits volunteering can be tough. Transport costs and other resource shortages are a challenge. Yet she emphasizes that it cannot be just about funding. She implores, in particular unemployed and out-of-school youth, to use their time to change someone’s life. If that reason alone is not enough, she reminds them that volunteer work can build your CV and open many doors for you – as it has done for her.
It is impossible to interact with Lebo without being moved to rise, act and protect. Her optimism and daring is delightfully contagious. Lebogang Brenda Motsumi has declared that her life belongs to her, not to HIV. She is a shining light of resilience and delivers on the desire for a meaningful life in service to others. Lebo says she simply wants to see people overcome HIV and AIDS with a similar will to be happy and healthy! In her own words, she is “rebranding HIV and AIDS”!
Share your stories of people or community-based organisations who are true champions of their communities in the fight against HIV, AIDS and TB. Email: Worldaidsday@sanac.org.za