It was a sunny day in the summer of 2007, in Johannesburg. We were about to have a meeting we had anticipated for many years. We were going to have tea with Nelson Mandela.
Mandela – known affectionately by his traditional Xhosa clan name, Madiba – had become a beacon in my life - his quest for human rights, freedom, forgiveness and reconciliation - the soul of a new South Africa.
We were meeting him because of our work as One to One Children’s Fund in innovating ways of delivering Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) as an effective treatment regime for HIV in remote communities.
Madiba was very interested in our work, and was deeply heartened by the commitment to his country from a charity based in London.
One to One Children’s Fund’s vision and values have always been informed and inspired by all that Nelson Mandela fought for, particularly the well-being and education of children, women’s empowerment, access to health and the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Today, the focus of our work is in the district Madiba himself grew up in, and retired to: the OR Tambo district of the Eastern Cape. There, our flagship programme, Enable, is achieving stellar results – most notably, close to 0% HIV transmission between HIV+ mothers and their children.
With the success of the pilot, we are now looking to expand Enable to reach all rural communities in the Eastern Cape and beyond. We’re giving ourselves 3 years to help ensure that One to One Africa becomes sustainable and that we are able to offer the Enable programme to all rural communities in South Africa.
It is a huge vision, and today, 18 July, Mandela Day, we re-affirm that vision, inspired by Madiba himself. Please join us on this journey.
David Altschuler
Executive Chair, One to One Children’s Fund