Introduction: Monkeybiz organisation

Beadwork

Barbara Jackson and Shirley Fintz, well known ceramicists, and Mataphelo Ngaka are passionate about collecting, and preserving South African artifacts, founded MONKEYBIZ in January 2000.
Mataphelo got a few women in the community of Macassar in Khayelitsha to start making dolls, suppliying the beads and cotton. A positive response was received from local shops and tourists so they decided to ask women from other Townships such as Samora Machel and Mandela Park to make dolls.
they now have approximately 360 women making dolls with 200 women on their waiting list.



Income and pride

They meet with the women in a donated office twice a month where they get paid for their work.
women now also make bags, beaded pictures, animals, cushion covers and sculptures.
Every piece is a unique one-off work of art and is signed by the artist.
The project has also given tremendous pride, confidence and self worth back to people who have been severely marginalized and neglected.
Monkeybiz is completely community driven. Families can be kept together as the whole family can get involved in creating beadwork at home, even men are starting to take an interest in a traditionally female pursuit.

HIV AIDS awareness

Positively HIV
Monkeybiz released a book entitled "Positively HIV" that was launched in November 2003, together with a musical CD called "Statements". featuring the voices of our bead artists at CD Wherehouse, Cape Town.

The 68-page book is magnificently illustrated with Monkeybiz beadwork images and targets young people between the ages of 15 and 24. It has been Initially published in English and Xhosa, and translation in other South-African languages such as Sotho, Zulu, Afrikaans would be very useful.
A version for French Speaking countries in Africa could also be released.

Positively HIV intends to educate youth in an entertaining and non-confrontational way, as well as expose the wonderful creative (and employment) opportunities offered by bead art and crafts.


All profit  from the sales of the book goes towards the running of Monkeybiz Wellness Clinic

Wellness Clinic
Monkeybiz Opened a Wellness Clinic and formed an Aids Support Group in its building in Cape Town in 2003.
in order to offer counselling, yoga therapy and income generating activities for the extended Monkeybiz network, affected by hiv/aids. This amazing and alive entity now gathers every week 45 women.
A life Line counsellor (Life Line is the governmental HIV/AIDS counsellors training organization)
comes every week to the clinic, together with a doctor and other volunteers.
Income generating activities are also put together for these women, so that coming to the clinic is also linked with manual work they can work on together, and generating an income.
Alternative medecines are promoted at the clinic, in order to delay the start of ARV therapies and keep CD4 counts as high as possible (Yoga lessons, and homeopatic treatments).


Counsellors accounts and experiences

Interview with Eunice Bidle, Counsellor at the clinic

Commuting & attendance.
"Paying for the bus fairs is essential for the efficiency of a support group".

The best proof of success of the support group at the clinic is the attendance to the meetings.
Attendance is excellent, we get 45 women coming every week.
Sometimes it is not that easy for the ladies, as they do not have the money to come to the City.
Monkeybiz does pay back the transport (both ways) but it is only given to the ladies when they
come into the Wellness Clinic, so they sometime have to borrow this money to be able to come.

Building confidence with the patients.
"women need a confident to cope with their status"

"As co-ordinator of the group, I sit with the ladies in a group, or on an individual basis.
There are some ladies who have got their personal problems besides the status (HIV),
some don’t have a place to stay because of their status, and they don’t work.
I listen to them, as they now have someone who will listen and they can trust.
It is a relief for them, and also to reflect their feelings it builds that trust in them".

Disclosure & Powerty.
"Disclosure can often mean the end of a relationship and stability"

It is not easy for the patients to say ‘I am HIV’, and to disclose it to their family.
In fact, people are very poor, struggling to get food to eat, places to stay, and often a job.
Telling a partner who might be the "breadwinner" that you are positive can often lead to the end
of a relationship, without any food, and anywhere to stay.

Income generating activities.
"Having a manual work to do during the meetings means food on the table"

People living with HIV/AIDS need support, something to do to earn a living and put food on the table.
When we invite them to the support group we have to think what are they going to do,
what are we going to provide for them to eat?
If we want them to sew, and sell something, where are we going to get sewing machines, materials, we can do some of the beadwork but I feel that it will be too much for Monkeybiz at least it will be better to try something else.
Finding activities is essential to keep a high adherence to the meetings.

Food is essential. Food is missing.
"They are told not to take drugs without food, but they cannot afford this food"

So far 8 women are on ARV drugs. I do sit with them to find out how they are doing.
Doctors at the clinic have explained to them how the drugs work and they know what kind of side effects they can occur. The main problem is that they are told not to take drugs without food.
They were given instructions what to eat which they cannot afford, as they don’t have enough food to feed their own families.

"I feel that the nutrition is essential. Otherwise, women will decide not to use drugs at all"

The clinic supply bread, coffee, fruit, E-pap and transport money every Friday.

but you will find that some women don’t eat their bread, they take it home for their children.
In fact, their families expect something in return: The mother is not working, goes out for the day to the support group, and needs to bring back something for the children.



"Income generation is essential and should be developped, but food parcels should also be considered sometimes in emergency cases "

This situation of mothers keeping the food for their family disturbs me and I would like to propose that we can organise food parcels for the ladies at least once a month.
Priority still remains of course to empower them to make things that will bring them an income.
They are very keen to do anything that will make them earn something for their families.
But some of them are in very fragile positions, have lost partners, jobs, because of their status, some did get jobs but they are always sick and they don’t tell their employers that, because they are frightened they will lose their jobs.

Nutrition is a core element of any preventive, care, support and treatment programme.
Nutrition deficits make people living with HIV AIDS more susceptible to disease and increases disease progression.


Involvment of Dessine l'Espoir

Dessine L'Espoir will support the clinic both on the nutrition and commuting expenses side
on a first 14 months period.

Budget for Dessine l'Espoir

Budget for 2004
€ 1 160 for November & December.

Budget for 2005: € 7056

€ 3360 for the 6 first months
€ 3696 for the 6 last months(Taking into account an increse of 10% of the patients)