Whisper not wows SABCOHA Peer Educator Conference

Posted by giles in Talks

Two of our authors, Christy-Joy Webster and Nomfundo Xotyeni, represented Openly Positive at the recent SABCOHA conference for South African Peer Educators at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg, Gauteng.  Christy-Joy led a session on Supporting the Care-giver, a theme central to her story in our Whisper not collection, while Nomfundo Xotyeni talked about the importance of self-support in the context of her story, The Hero Lies Within You.

Focusing on her own story, Time to mix medicine with feelings, Christy-Joy says she really enjoyed her session sharing the messages of her story: “I felt that it was very relevant to the peer educators and that it was well-received. I emphasised that ‘it is OK not to be OK’ and encouraged people to love their neighbour as they love themselves: it is so important to love yourself, or you won’t last long trying to care for others.”

She further explained that love never fails and how, for her, it was her patients’ love that helped her to heal from the compassion fatigue she experienced when working with people living with HIV in rural KwaZulu-Natal. She briefly explained what compassion fatigue is and highlighted the importance of support systems, debriefing and good boundaries.

Nomfundo Xotyeni also talked at the conference about her own story, The hero lies in you, as well as appearing on a panel for a session on Advocacy. Nomfundo’s story is, like Christy-Joy’s, one of ups and down, of heartache and survival. She calls it fighting the ‘stigma train’ and we salute her courage in telling her story and fighting her own health battles. Openly Positive is all the richer for being able to share her openness as a lesbian living with HIV.

With Nomfundo and Christy-Joy’s help at these sessions and at our Openly Positive bookstall, we sold 40 books outright over the day and a half of the conference, and have plenty more on order, pending payment. This is particularly heartening as we feel the book is getting to exactly the right people through this audience of peer educators in the HIV/AIDS support sector.

Congratulations and thanks to all who helped make it happen: Christy-Joy and Nomfundo, as well as Lindsay and Robyn from our distributors, PSD, and, of course, Denise and Pat of SABCOHA for making the conference happen and allowing us to be there.