Not just 'chalk and talk' learning at SAfAIDS - meet our young talented multi-media skilled writers

So here we are, three days in and we have a draft document we are reviewing. It's very exciting. Why? Well, it is definately not 'Chalk & Talk'. Our learning sessions are action based, student centred and highly interactive. How come? Let's look at two more of our young writers. 

Buhle Mabaso is a qualified filmmaker and communications professional with a keen interest in development; paying a particular attention to gender issues as they relate to a range of other development priorities including; human rights, HIV and AIDS, sexual and reproductive health as well as economic development. With a broadcasting and PR background, she is a freelance contributor for major South African magazines and newspapers. Buhle aims to use the media as a weapon of change that educates, sensitises and creates conversations around human rights issues. Bhule is a 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow on the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and the co-founder of Asakhe Ikhayalethu, an online movement aimed at empowering young women and girls. Bhule is supporting the SAfAIDS Communications, Knowledge Management, Media and Marketing team and is based in our South Africa Office. Check out Bhule’s Facebook page and blog
 https://www.facebook.com/Asakhe.Ikhayalethu  http://buhlem.blog.com

Charmaine Picardo is also a 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow (YALI) and a graduate of the SAfAIDS Young Women Leadership programme. Charmaine has over three years experience in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights advocacy and activism, and over four years in media and information dissemination with skills in public speaking, journalism and television and radio presenting. Her role as SRHR Ambassador for young people has afforded her invaluable experience doing advocacy work in Southern Africa. As an intern at the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe Charmaine actively took part in the Constitution making process. She has an interest in key populations, among them street youth. 

Princess Sibanda is a creative activist and academic.  She holds a degree in Theatre Arts (Hon) from the University of Zimbabwe and is currently reading for a Masters by Research in Drama and Performance  at the University of KwaZulu Natal.  She is interested in Applied Theatre Research and many of her own perfomances have been dedicated towards sexual rights activism. She is the Alumni Coordinator with Justice for Children under the Child Law Forum project and has served as a SAfAIDS ambassador for Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights in Zimbabwe for the past three years. Along the way she has won awards such as the Best Behavioral Change Maker through creativity in Zimbabwe.


Creative Activisim

With our diverse and cross cutting experience we are bringing to the curriculum a fun, engaging and exciting way of learning about different things, amongst them communication, critical thinking, branding, networking and research. This is how we like to learn as young people! The course is going to provide an interactive platform involving role play, video recording and presentations before a live audience. This interactive learning is aimed at sharpening the participants’ communication and presentation skills and encourage confidence in us all. Being able to effectively articulate one’s self is a very powerful thing.

Our message!

Creative activism is also a crucial element in advocacy involving young people as they do not want information just deposited into them. Media is a powerful entity in our world, we want young people to be the stars and not the victims of the media.