Projects

2004

• Promotion of the Equality Courts
  THRU will promote the use of Equality Courts and the aims of the Equality Act by producing picture stories, cartoon strips and dramas to explain how one can take a case to the Equality Courts and on what grounds remedies are available. THRU will also produce an Equality eMagazine to promote the Equality Act and Courts. THRU will work in conjunction with the Women's Legal Centre, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and the Department of Justice to realise this campaign

• Destiny's Calling: Human Rights Educational Radio Dramas

• Preventing the Spread of HIV and Aids
  

  THRU has been developing some funky HIV and Aids posters, educating the public on those body fluids containing HIV which pose a high risk of transmission and those fluids we don't need to worry about. There is a "straight" version for heterosexuals, and a "gay male" version. The posters were designed to be displayed on the back of bar, club and cafe toilet doors. Posters can be purchased from THRU for R20 plus postage and packaging (overseas buyers, please email for prices).

• 'No' Basic Rights? - Know your basic rights!
  In collaboration with Bell-Roberts Publishers and Gallery we will be producing a comic strip newsletter to promote basic human rights to the residents of Khayalitsha, Langa, Guguletu and surrounding areas. The comic strip will use the life experiences of a fictional family to illustrate the institutional safeguards and methods that can be employed to protect rights.

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• Pre Polls Party! 13 April - 169 on Long, Cape Town
  Promoting the General and Provincial Election to Cape Town youth. Also acted as an information gathering workshop where the youth's opinion of politics were innovatively recorded and the vibe was captured by a piece of spontaneous graffiti art. The results will form the basis of an exhibition we hope to mount in the National Parliament in Cape Town from October. (See Cape Times "Political Party for the young gives fresh spin to polls" and SABC 2 Election Round Up - Thursday 15 April 2004)

• Ubuntu Women's Centre, Khayamandi

• HIV/AIDS Tertiary Campus Roadshow - to be confirmed

2003

• December - Perspectives on HIV/AIDS: Dialogue and Discourse on, around and with the virus.
  This Project was kick off by the amazing "HIVALALALA: Perspectives on HIV/AIDS" Concert on World Aids Day, 1 December 2003 in the Beach Road Studios, Sea Point, Cape Town. THRU linked up with Afribeat because Iain and Struan know the hippest musicians in town. Thanks guys! You didn't disappoint. Music was provided by Cape Town's finest musicians - Ernie Deane (Moodphase 5ive), Zolani Mahola (Freshly Ground), the Gramadoelas and the Khoi Kollectif made musical history by sharing the stage for the first time, O'Didi sang a prayer, Verity sang from the heart and Jethro, the Ghetto Poet, made a hit single! The Concert was recorded live and a multimedia CD will be produced and available for all of you unlucky enough to have missed the live performance.

  THRU launched it's new cartoon character, HIVA, at the Concert. HIVA is a social construction of the virus which aims to remove stigma and thereby create a more comfortable learning environment to approach issues of HIV/AIDS - whether positive or negative. Paddy Bouma, illustrator and lecturer at Stellenbosch University, exhibited her beautiful paintings to illustrate the new Heinemann children's book "Friends for Life", the story of a child ostracized by his classmates following the death of his mother from Aids. (See www.aidsteaching.com)

Then we relaxed at the Distrix 6 Cafe and heard Spindle Sect, Cape Town Hip Hop band, then danced to DJ Tony Smith's mix.

Thanks to the British High Commission and Moeti and Salome in particular for all your wonderful support in getting this project off the ground.

For more details see: http://www.unaids.org/en/events/world+aids+day+2003/world+aids+day+events+2003.asp#S, http://www.afribeat.com/hivalalala.html and www.thru.org.za/HIVA.html

• November - Constitutional Drafting and Human Rights Training, Nairobi, Kenya
  Wrote Training Manual on Kenyan Constitutional Drafting Process using comparative method to South African Bill of Rights for NGO staff and Community Journalists. 25 Participants took part and formed themselves into the Kenyan Coalition for the improved status of Women and Children. The group decided activism was the aim of the course and so they wrote a letter of complaint to national newspaper on an Opinion Article relating to Kenyan rape victims who are suing the British Armed Forces. The Coalition also compiled a submission to the Kenyan Constitutional Drafting Commission and the Minister for Justice.
• November - Collaboration with Wellness Programme for the Clothing Industry Health Care Fund (Western Cape)
  Designed T-shirts for Wellness Programme's World Aids Day Event.
• September - Human Rights Training for Community Radio Journalists
  Compiled Human Rights Training Manual for Community Journalists. Delivered training. 12 participants. Manual and related exercises.
• September - Submissions to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development on the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Amendment Bill, 2003 (seeking to create new statutory crimes of rape and sexual assault to replace the common law crime).
  Suggested several alterations to Bill.

• August - Complaint to Press Ombudsman
  Complained to Sunday Times editorial (link to letter) regarding an article which THRU argued offended against rights of a child rape victim (link to article). The Sunday Times refused to accept the article was offensive (link to reply). THRU complained to the Press Ombudsman. The complaint was upheld (link to Ombudsman's letter). Thereafter the Sunday Times agreed that the article was unacceptable and they requested copy of THRU's Human Rights Training Manual for and associated exercises to include it in their cadet training scheme (link to Sunday Times letter).

• June - Joint Submission on SABC Draft Editorial Policy

• May - Collaboration with MAIN (Malawian Aids Information Network)
  Helen Fernand was asked to give input into an expert opinion on behalf of a Malawian male living in the UK with his positive child, who was under threat of being deported out of the UK. He needed to stay in the UK to receive treatment. The opinion helped change the law in the UK as the Court accepted, firstly, that lack of affordable treatment in the applicant's country of citizenship was a reason to grant an extension to the residency VISA and also it was the first time human rights issues, relating to stigma and discrimination, had been properly addressed by UK courts. We won the case!

• March to June - Collaboration with Justice Africa, Islington, London
  Helen Fernand took up a temporary post with London and Uganda based NGO, Justice Africa. She initiated a new Project for Justice Africa focusing on the role women are playing in traditional male roles during the Gacaca Hearings. She was working under the Direction of Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, Director of the Pan African Movement and Ugandan Pan-African Parliamentarian.

  Helen also took the opportunity to attend the "Constitution Making in Africa" Conference at the University of Edinburgh in May and the British Institute of International and Coparative Law's International Conference on the Gacaca Hearings in Rwanda.

• February - Complaint to Advertising Standards Authority
  THRU complained to the Advertising Standards Agency regarding a Black Heart Rum radio advertisement which was sexist (link to letter of complaint). The advertiser voluntarily withdrew the offensive advertisement.

If you would like further details please contact Helen Fernand on:

helen@thru.org.za

by telephone or fax on:

+27 (0)21 422 3841

or by post at:

transformative human rights unit
(thru)
P O Box 15896
Vlaeberg 8018
Cape Town
Republic of South Africa

If you would like to make a donation to support THRU's work, please deposit it in THRU's Bank Account and forward the details to us in order that we can indicate our gratitude personally:

ABSA Bank - Adderley Street Branch
Branch Code: 63 20 05
Account Number: 9119 4566 10