WE WANT
ONE
MILLION
PEOPLE
ARE YOU ONE
OF OUR MILLION?
Dear Supporter
We want you to be one of our million
Thank you so much for taking the time to find out more about our Just A Million campaign
which I hope can inspire you to take just one action to change a country.
Swaziland is one of the poorest and smallest countries in Africa facing some incredibly
difficult challenges. With the highest HIV prevalence in the world and one of the lowest
life expectancies, Swaziland has become a nation of orphans. Something has to change
and it has to change now.
I started Positive Women in 2005 after meeting my cofounder, Siphiwe Hlophe
and hearing her inspirational story: In 2000 Siphiwe had earned a scholarship
to study for a degree in agriculture in the UK. Part of the scholarship process then
required Siphiwe to have a HIV test. She told me that when she went to see the doctor
he said, “I’m sorry Siphiwe but you won’t be studying in the UK”.
The scholarship was not valid for anyone who was HIV positive, as back then it was
viewed as a bad investment. Siphiwe went home, told her husband and as is the case
for many Swazi women that reveal their positive status, was thrown out of her home
and blamed for bringing the virus there. Unlike most, the amazing Siphiwe did not
accept that and got together with a group of five other women and acted. They started
a support group, which from five, has now grown to over 5000 women across
Swaziland.
continued overleaf...
When Siphiwe invited me to Swaziland shortly after our meeting, I jumped at the
chance. I remember driving down a dirt track through a river, to a rural school and
having swarms of children rush over. It was then out of the corner of my eye, I saw
the boy that changed my life.
He was sat under a tree in the distance. His name was Sibusiso, he was 8 years old
and very sick. We went over to him and he was covered in scabies, painfully thin,
with a massive swollen tummy and wouldn’t look up or speak. Siphiwe told me that he
was an orphan living with his grandfather, who they suspected was abusing him, and
his sister. They also thought he was HIV positive and would not live very long. I’d never
seen an 8 year old with such little hope and such deep sadness and I was filled with an
overwhelming desire to protect this little boy, who had to suffer so much.
Soon after meeting Sibusiso, Positive Women was formed.
In 2010 I went to Swaziland to see the progress of our initiatives. I visited a rural home
of a Swazi grandmother, who was looking after two children. We were sat with her,
when the children came home from school and came sprinting over, laughing and
smiling. They gave me a massive hug and started chattering about school and football
and proudly handed me their school reports - with A’s all round. One of those children
was Sibusiso - that little boy who was sat under a tree all those years ago.
We often think that our one action isn’t going to make a difference and so why should
we act at all? This story shows you the power of an action of one person, which is a
start to better the lives of a million. We need you to join us, as one of the million people,
acting for the million people in Swaziland to change their lives forever.
After all, it’s ‘just a million’.
Best wishes
Kathryn Llewellyn
Founding CEO, Positive Women
www.positivewomen.org
Positive Women is a Registered Charity No. 1111952
We believe that just one
action can make a big impact.
TAKE JUST ONE
ACTION AND MAKE
A BIG IMPACT
Swaziland is one of the poorest and smallest countries
in Africa facing some incredibly difficult challenges.
With the highest HIV prevalence in the world and one
of the lowest life expectancies, Swaziland has become
a nation of orphans. Something has to change and
it has to change now. This small country bordering South
Africa has one of the world’s smallest populations of just
a million people- but its small size and big problems
leave it frequently ignored in policy talks and foreign
aid projects. With our help the people of Swaziland can
and will break the cycle of poverty, but we must act now,
and we must act together. After all, it’s ‘just a million’.
We want to get one million people, to do just
one thing to change a country.
A million people, a million actions
and a world of difference.
What You Can Do...
Go to our website and sign-up
to be one of our million
www.positivewomen.org/
just-a-million
Sign up now to give £1 a day,
week or month
www.positivewomen.org/
donate.php#waysToDonate
Get your company, school, church
or community group involved
Spread the word and get one other
person involved in Just A Million
find out more about the work
of positive women overleaf...
WHAT WILL MY ACTION
ACHIEVE
By becoming one of our million, you will help Positive Women and our local partners in Swaziland
to not only put pressure on the international community to stop overlooking Swaziland, but to transform lives
by helping us to empower women and children in the poorest communities in Swaziland.
To transform lives we:
Protecting from harm
To be able to make the most of opportunities, one has to be free from fear and enduring harm. In the poor
communities we work with in Swaziland these fears are generally about matters of life and death: where will the
next meal come from? If disease strikes, can I get to a doctor and medicine? We develop programmes that these
communities have access to health care and food and no longer have to struggle to meet these basic needs.
Creating opportunity
Everybody has hopes, aspirations and ambitions. Our programmes invest in creating the skills, tools
and opportunities that allow people to fulfill their potential and achieve their aims for a better tomorrow.
These include education for orphans and vulnerable children and income generation activities for women.
Improving the system
In most countries there are parts of the system that are not set up to support those who are most vulnerable
and the development and future of its people. We work to improve the system for individuals and communities across
their country, aiming for a fair and progressive system that looks to securing the future for everyone.
how You can get involved
HOW YOUR
SCHOOL CAN GET
INVOLVED
There are so many ways your school could get involved.
Below are some suggestions:
• Invite Positive Women in to talk about Swaziland,
the lives we are changing and the campaign
• Make Positive Women your charity for the year
• Help us collect a million pennies by starting
a penny collection in your school
• Organise a Just a Million Day at school where
everyone dresses in a colour from the Swaziland flag
• Hold a cake sale at school
• Get your teachers to sign up and Live Below the Line in 2014
• OR you tell us what you want to do and we support
you 100% of the way
For more information visit www.positivewomen.org
or email us on [email protected]
MONTHLY GIVING
Sign up now to give £1 a day
or £1 a week - that’s just £28
a month, or £4 a month.
It’s so easy to do, by either visiting
our website and setting up a direct
debit through our online form, or
by setting up your own payment to:
Account Name:
Positive Women
Account Number:
73283380
Sort Code:
20 84 41
Bank:
Barclays Bank
For more information visit www.positivewomen.org
or email us on [email protected]
Positive Women is a Registered Charity No. 1111952