Nkosi's Haven is a foundation situated in Melville, Johannesburg, South Africa. It was started in 1999 by Gail Johnson and named in honour of her foster son Nkosi Johnson and in memory of his biological mother who was unable to look after him. Nkosi died from aids in 2001. The aim for the Haven is to offer a safe environment for mothers with hiv/aids and their children. When the mothers eventually die, the children are still taken care of, and are part of a big “family”.

Nkosi's Haven consists of three projects. The Haven houses about 10 mothers and 51 children. The Village, when completed, will have room for about 100 mother and 183 children. The Farm has room for about 100 mothers and 200 children.

An emphasis has always been on education and self-sustenance. The mothers and children at Nkosi's Haven get all their expenses covered: from medication, education, school uniforms, psychological aid, food and other things to allow them to live as normal a life as possible. A cornerstone in the philosophy of the Haven is “we are all the same”.

Gail Johnson, founder of Nkosi's Haven, visited Tromsø in June 2007 for the annual “Mandela Conference”. A question we wanted to find the answer to, was “how can we help?”. As students, we do not find ourselves with a lot of extra cash at the end of the month, so the solution was to give help as a gift. We began forming our ideas into a plan of action, and this is our conclusion: We are privileged enough to buy most of the things we need ourselves. We can do without gifts for ONE year (at least for starters!).

The initial thought was that if everyone (in our group that is) asked for money for, and then gave this to Nkosi's Haven, it would amount to not so small a sum. And if we upped this, and could involve our friends in asking for the same, we would raise even more money to help Gail continue the important work she is doing. After these initial ideas and consultations with Børre Sørdahl of THINK Mental Fashion, the project has just expanded. On our website those who wish may give money to Nkosi's Haven as a gift to their friends and loved ones.

Our hope is that as many as possible will be involved in contributing to this. Tromsø's status as the first ambassador city of 46664 underlines our responsibility in the fight against hiv/aids. We need to ask ourselves how we are taking the status of ambassador city seriously.

Challenge yourself; challenge your friends: can you do without one gift this year? Can you do without two? Can you do without all of them? If you can, you will contribute to giving the most beautiful gift of all to the residents of Nkosi's Haven.

If you want to read more about Nkosi's Haven visit their website: www.nkosi.iafrica.com

If you want to know more about how you can contribute,  please email Sigrid Solhaug at sigrid@vierlike.no

Each One Reach One.