Latest news with #SteppingTennisFoundation
The Citizen
08-07-2025
- Health
- The Citizen
Region E health tackles the country's HIV treatment gap
Region E faces a significant challenge of getting more than 10 000 HIV positive people on treatment. This has necessitated the launch of numerous initiatives in the region, including Indoda Wednesday Dialogue (IWD), and recently, the health outreach campaign at Kwabhekilanga Sports Ground in Alexandra on June 20. This forms part of the region's attempt to ensure that vital services such as HIV testing and counselling, TB screening, family planning, and health education are brought to the Alexandra community. The IWD, hosted by FAN Champions For Change manager Charles Mphephu, and the health outreach campaign are slightly different in terms of who they are targeting, but they share a similar goal of tackling the scourge of HIV in Region E and preventing its spread. Read more: Efforts to mobilise men against GBV and spread of HIV continue IWD has reached men across the Alexandra community who are least likely to talk about GBV, and HIV treatment openly, and the health campaign aimed to reach both men, women and children who are least likely to set foot in a clinic. 'We expected more youth, but even though we did not see more of them, they did show up. And, we just wanted the community around the area to come, especially children, because we know they are no longer going to school,' a multisectoral coordinator in Region E, Lerato Malemela shared. Malemela, who is also the co-organiser of the health outreach, emphasised its significance, noting that it was a regional contribution to the country's Close The Gap campaign, which seeks to shrink the HIV treatment gap by bringing 1.1 million people into treatment. At the launch of the HIV treatment Gap campaign in Soweto on February 25, health minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed that men were behind in taking HIV/Aids treatment, and that the 1.1 million gap was mostly composed of men. Since then, IWD has reached men across Alexandra, and has served as a platform to encourage them to take measures to prevent HIV spread. One of the IWD participants, Stepping Tennis Foundation member, and co-organiser of the outreach campaign, Sibusiso Shongwe, said, 'So, what we have seen at the FAN men's forum is that men are afraid to go to the health facilities. They are scared of queuing at the clinics. But here, there are no queues; they just walk in, receive services, and leave. That is why we decided that we should bring the clinic to them.' Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration! Have a story idea? We'd love to hear from you – join our WhatsApp group and share your thoughts! At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The Citizen
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Local changemakers bring big-screen joy to Alexandra
For a few hours on Friday evening, the township of Alexandra shed its usual shadows of hardship, poverty, and crime, and came alive with community spirit. Just near the intersection of Thoko Ngoma and Far Eastbank streets, children gathered for a movie night hosted by The Eye Pictures 1920, in partnership with the Stepping Tennis Foundation. Read more: The enduring legacy of Kings Cinema The event saw little ones treated to the hilarity of Despicable Me 4, an experience curated with care. 'I played it because it's funny. I have watched the movie, it made me laugh, and I wished to enjoy it with others,' said Siyabonga 'Makwera' Twala, of The Eye Pictures 1920. It was the fourth screening in this initiative by The Eye Pictures 1920, but the first one in collaboration with the Stepping Tennis Foundation. Twala's inspiration traces back to a cherished memory from 2010, when he and his friends would watch cartoons together on a big screen at a park in Eastbank. 'Coming back from school we would go there and watch Cartoon Network. We first saw Phineas and Ferb there.' It was this nostalgia that sparked his mission to recreate those moments, offering the children of Alexandra their own version of that joy. Stepping Tennis member Sibusiso 'Scuba Ray' Shongwe resonated with the vision. 'Siyabonga wanted to give back to the less privileged. It is not everyone who knows this cinema setting. So, my friend wanted to bring it to the township.' Shongwe, who is a long-time supporter of the initiative, added that since he works with children, he also wanted to give them something magical. In a township often overlooked because of its challenges, a projector, and a bit of heart from two local changemakers, turned an ordinary street into a place of unity and laughter. Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration! Have a story idea? We'd love to hear from you – join our WhatsApp group and share your thoughts! At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
