HIVAND AIDS -- GROUNDBREAKERS PROJECT 7 - 13 MAY 2009

After a disastrous start to a planned trip to Sweden for the HIV/AIDS programme due to many different factors too complicated to mention here (although I plan to put the process down for history) I am thrilled to say that we had an unforgettably excellent trip.

Our planned trip was thus delayed by 2 days, but thanks to Tormod, Ted Lindquist, Ingeborg and others we finally left SA at 18h55 on Thursday evening arriving in Sweden at Kalmar Airport late on Friday evening where we were met by Ingeborg. To our surprise Bo Helstrom was on the same flight as us from Stockholm to Kalmar and so we fondly greeted each other before departing for Oskarshamn.

From Kalmar we traveled to Oskarshamn where we met Laila and Kirsten and were treated to a wonderful supper prepared by Laila with such thought and kindness - a long chat, updating us on the programme ahead and then back home to sleep and refresh for the next days events after a long but eventful journey to Sweden.

Ingeborg had once again secured the most beautiful spot in Oskarshamn (to our point of view) at the Shalom mission house on the banks of the Baltic sea with uninterrupted sea views and a clear view of the Blå Jungfrun - "The Blue Maiden" Island in the distance.

Ingeborg and Kaj collected us early on Saturday morning to travel to Figeholm where we boarded the Sea Rescue Vessel for an invigorating trip through the idyllic archipelago. We passed many small uninhabited and inhabited islands and after a few hours we stopped for tea in amongst the small islands anchored off shore. An experience none of us will forget.

I think this was one of the highlights of the trip as we do not have an archipelago in South Africa and would have to travel and pay thousands to be able to experience this if we had not been offered this wonderful experience. We had excellent tour guides both in the pilots as well as Ingeborg and Kaj who themselves are experienced sea farers with good historical knowledge to add to our learning experience.

After the trip we traveled back to Oskarshamn where we visited Kaj & Ingeborg’s home just a few blocks away from our accommodation where we were treated to a lovely Pizza Lunch, After lunch we were dropped off in town to do some shopping and to meet Ulf Ljunggren who took us to the Shalom Boutique. Here we again experienced the wonderful hospitality of our host country, we were all given the equivalent of 300SEK worth of purchases free to take home with us.

Ulf took time to explain to us about the programme he is involved in called “Shalom Fålt” working amongst youth in the city especially at night when they are out having fun in on Hamngaten late at night after the pubs and clubs have closed. The programme uses youth just like the LoveLIFe groundBREAKER programme and in fact Ulf referrers to his assistants as groundBREAKERs too.

After our shopping spree in Oskarshamn and then at Shalom Boutique Ulf took us for a tour of the Shalom Sailing boat used in the youth programme as well as an income generator for the project. Ulf then returned us to our home on the Baltic Sea where we quickly freshened up for a party held in our honour at Kaj and Ingeborg’s home as mentioned earlier just a few blocks away from the Shalom mission home. We took a brisk stroll to the Nilsson home to arrive in time for our 7 pm function.

It was wonderful to meet with old friends and make new. We were thrilled to meet our fellow SA delegates in the Time Travel Programme – Gulshera, Prenesen, Sizwe and Joe who had traveled to Oskarshamn to attend a special function on Monday 11th May at the Oskarshamn Kommun where our South African Oskarshamn Ambassador would address the council on the programmes conducted by the Twinning process between OSAK and PS Twinning Association
I think this is another highlight, the tour of the yacht and especially for our young groundBREAKERS that had a wonderful time choosing gifts for their families.

On Saturday evening after the party the groundBREAKERS left earlier than Christa and myself to accompany Ulf on the groundBREAKER work they are doing on Hamngarten. Ulf returned the gBs to our accommodation at 11:30pm and collected Christa an me and took us along to Hamngarten to see how they work too. Christa left at around 1am and I stayed on until 3am with Ulf walking amongst the youth and talking to them on what they were doing and their experiences. This was a very interesting experience and one I feel that we could take as a project in South Africa with our drug and alcohol abuse problems as I see that they are doing an excellent job.

On Sunday morning we met Carl Blom and the other delegation together with Kaj for an historic stroll around the town. We learnt that Oskarshamn was founded in 1856. It became a centre of boat construction and trade early on; and that shipping and shipbuilding have characterized the town over the years. Today Oskarshamn is the hub for the municipality’s 26,300 inhabitants and a significant industrial town with thriving shipping still ongoing. There was a large Ferry currently moored in the harbour being used as a floating hotel for staff working on the refurbishment of the Nuclear Power Station at Figeholm. We past the oldest and longest wooden “sofa” in the world. This bench, “Långa soffan”, was built in 1867 and is 72 metres long. This is where the fishermen’s wives used to wait for their husbands to return from the sea. We were given many other interesting landmarks to look at and then strolled along the narrow cobbled streets of Besväret and Fynket, the town’s oldest district. Enjoy the flourishing gardens and well-preserved 19th century wooden buildings.

Here again is something I think we as South African’s can learn from. We need to preserve our heritage such as old buildings – in Tin Town we have some shanty shacks and they have such a history that we should preserve some of these making sure that we do not lose this history no matter how sad it is.

After our stroll through the village we then traveled some miles out of town to Stensjö by - "The Village of Stensjö" It was like stepping back in time as if life had stood still for the 100 years or more in this beautiful and tranquil village so well preserved. We were treated to a true Swedish country picnic and the food and fellowship was so invigorating. We walked through the museum barns and along the walking path round the village and back to the cars with so much new insight into the lives of people back in the days when small villages were self sufficient – making their own bread and milk and all the other items necessary to sustain the families of the village.

Once back at the cars we traveled along the beautifully kept roads to a small home which Ritva and Ingva had converted into an art gallery called Gallery Pelargonia where we once again were treated to a lovely Fika – strong coffee, tea, coldrinks and a marvelous assortment of cakes and eats. We viewed the gallery and were then handed a surprise donation of two beautiful paintings – one by Ritva and one by Ingva for the South African delegations.

We then traveled back home to freshen up and go for supper at Karen’s Liljesand’s home where we met her lovely family. Once again the food was marvelous and the company and fellowship was outstanding. We learnt so much from Karen and spoke about meeting Karen the following day at the Youth Clinic. After supper we went back to Ingeborg’s home to send some emails and follow up on the programme for the next few days and discuss our trip home.

Monday dawned bright and sunny and we awoke to another exciting day packed with interesting activities. We were met by Gunilla Brorson and taken to her school where we addressed three classes studying early childhood. It was very interesting for our groundBREAKERs to see the students not wearing school uniforms, teachers addressed by their first names and not Miss or Sir etc, Well equipped classes with computers and music equipment that we could only dream of in South Africa in our schools. The groundBREAKERs addressed the students on the groundBREAKER programme and the issues around HIV and AIDs and Christa and I added information from our own experiences. The youth in Sweden are very withdrawn when it comes to talking to us and so we only had some responses from one or two students in the classes we addressed but after a bit of coaxing they started to ask more and we were able to engage in more in depth discussions. At the school we were treated to a school lunch the same as all the students ate and this too was an eye opener for the groundBREAKERs as we in SA do not have even basic food such as bread and butter let alone such a marvelous meal as we had at the Oscarsgymnasiet.

Kaj fetched us at 1pm and we went into town to do visit the Art Gallery in Oskarshamn, the Maritime Museum, and the Döderhultar Museum and at 2:30pm we walked to the Youth Clinic where we met with Karen Liljesand who gave us an in depth discussion on the work carried out at the clinic, what youth are experiencing in Oskarshamn, how teenage pregnancy and HIV is affecting students in Sweden and general sexuality issues that they deal with at the clinic.

This too was interesting for us as South Africans to see as we do not have the opportunity as youth to make an appointment to see a nursing sister who will deal with our problems and provide birth control on such an intimate level. Our queues are long and our numbers great so time is not available to give such meaningful assistance that the youth feel they can come and discuss many problems openly. The clinic treats the youth as young adults and this too gives more freedom to talk openly. We need to look at a better approach in SA to deal with these delicate but vital issues affecting our youth.

We then walked back to town where we were collected by Kaj who took us home to freshen up for our visit to the council meeting of Oskarshamn where we were honoured guests and thereafter taken to supper at a hotel in the town with the Mayor, Municipal Manager, politicians and other high profile delegates of the council and municipality. Here we were addressed by Gulshera Khan our Oskarshamn Ambassador in Port Shepstone. It was interesting to hear the work we as Port Shepstone Twinning have achieved over the past 14 years and what an impact it has had on our communities through the twinning process. The HIV/AIDS programme was also mentioned and the wonderful achievements that it has had over the years of its existence from 2003 to date.

It was wonderful to be able to mix with people from different walks of life, especially the politicians and to discuss issues of common interest in an informal setting. For the groundBREAKERs this was another first time experience.

In the morning we were collected by a colleague of Roger and Ulf and taken to the Social Department where we addressed the Social Workers and Family Planning Clinic Nursing Sisters and Midwifes. The Teams were very interested in the work we are doing in HIV/AIDs and in Social Work as a whole and we were also informed of the programmes and interventions of the social system in their departments.

Again we found this to be highly sophisticated in comparison to SA and would love to be able to replicate this in our own systems but without the income from taxes that we hear are levied on Swedes, and with our high unemployment and millions of people in need of support we will unfortunately not realise this level of service.

We were then taken to see a drop in crèche where children together with their parents are able to accompany them to play and interact under the supervision of trained crèche teachers. We then drove to 2 schools where we toured the facilities to see what the schools offer the students in the different age groups and educational courses offered. The students and the team again address the students and teachers and met the school nurse and enjoyed a lunch at the school.

The recycling services and systems in place that we saw and experienced in the council, the community and in peoples homes is impressive and it would be one of the things that I feel would be of great benefit to SA if we could replicate this in some way. Starting small would be a start.
The experiences and fellowship and the cultural differences will be a highlight for us all and we are most grateful to the funders for making this a possibility. An opportunity of a life time for us in South Africa. Those experiences that we see could be a possibility in our own country will definitely inspire us to endeavour to make a difference and try and achieve within the realms of our personal and organisational capabilities.
Thank you.
Compiled by: Lynne Footit - PS Twinning Association Chairperson and past Co-ordinator of the HCM HIV/AIDS groundBREAKER programme.