Years spent on the harsh streets of Namibia
as a child prompted Venancius Rukero to open his own orphanage, to great success
Words Amanda Elliot
He
approached the Positive Nation stand at the Bangkok World Aids conference
in July 2004 with a confidence that belied his poor state of health. His broad
smile distracted attention from the pronounced lymphoma on his neck, protruding
cheek bones and sunken eyes. His T-shirt carried a picture of a man who I
later found out was Simon Elago, a well-loved Namibian HIV activist and township
coffin maker known as Master Positive, who had died ten months earlier, aged
33.“I am Venancius Rukero,” he beamed, stuffing his already straining
bag with even more leaflets and magazines. His hunger for information was
typical of most of the HIV positive people from developing countries visiting
our stand. But there is something special about Venancius that draws you in.
A message on a T-shirt
His English was poor and my Afrikaans (the most widely spoken language in
Namibia) non-existent. Despite the language barrier, he managed to explain
he was a young man from Namibia living positively with HIV.
I asked about his T-shirt. “This is Simon Elago. He died of Aids in
September 2003, just a week before HIV drugs became available in Namibia.
He was my friend. He was a great man.”Venancius explained he had delayed
starting HIV medication so he could come to Bangkok to get support for his
Aids orphanage project. Looking again at his lymphoma, I doubted whether that
had been a wise decision. “Good luck,” I ventured, privately wondering
how this young man in a T-shirt, lugging his plastic bag, could even begin
to attract the attention of funders at a conference thronging with big pharma
and marketing-slick NGOs. I thought that was probably the last I would hear
from him. But Venancius is nothing if not tenacious.
Green House Shelter
Back in November 2005, an email arrived at Positive Nation. Venancius was
coming to England for two weeks and wanted to visit UKC and PN. I was astonished,
not least that he was still alive. This time I was better
prepared with an Afrikaans colleague on hand to interpret. Venancius, now
lymphoma-free and doing well on 3TC/d4T, said he was in the UK to drum up
support for his orphanage in the Namibian capital of Windhoek.
The orphanage, known as the Green House Shelter, takes in and cares for (through
a fostering network) some 80 street children affected by HIV. Furniture is
sparse in the one-storey house and, while the girls have beds, the boys were
having to sleep on the floor. The shelter survives largely by the kindness
of small organisations and donations-in-kind from local businesses.
Street life
Twenty-nine-year-old Venancius has a better understanding than most about
the needs of vulnerable children. He spent most of his early years as a street
child but he was not an orphan in the Western sense of the word. Born into
a family of six, his mother struggled to care for all her children and pay
for their schooling. Then she fell pregnant again.“Primary school fees
are 200Rand a month, so I had no choice. I had to leave home. I became a street
child. I survived by cleaning cars and windows and performing sexual favours
for foreign tourists.” Venancius suspects this is how he contracted
HIV.“Nobody cares about street children, they are so vulnerable. There
are plenty of foreigners wanting all kinds of sex and the children need the
money. This is what motivated me to do what I am doing now.”
Inspiration
In his early teens, Venancius was lucky enough to be sponsored through high
school by a government-funded street child programme. It was this that ultimately
inspired him to help the increasing numbers of young children affected by
HIV.
“I was 18 when I was diagnosed at a pre- and post-test counselling centre.
I didn’t really take it seriously then. But I wanted to give something
back. I wanted to change the lives of these children as I had lived it.
I am passionate about this.”It wasn’t until later, inspired by
Elago, or Master Positive, a young man and Aids activist from a local township
openly living with HIV, that Venancius decided to
disclose his status and change his life. “There were many questions
from friends and relatives. At the time I was living with a local pastor,
but when he learned about my status I was chased from his home.”
A rocky start
Namibia has more than 250,000 people living with HIV out of a population of
just over two million. About one in four 15 to 49-year-olds are infected.
Venancius himself has two brothers who are HIV positive. More than 16,000
people died of Aids-related illness here in 2003. Venancius estimates there
are around 80,000 children affected by HIV in the country. A few find their
way from the bridge arches and streets to the Green House Shelter in Windhoek.
Work on realising his dream started in earnest in 2003, when Venancius and
two
others founded the Velile Children’s Trust to complete outreach work
with street children. They obtained the house, a temporary, shelter from Windhoek
Municipality, and got by on handouts. But the project looked doomed when the
organisers fell out.Venancious says his vision, of “restructuring the
shattered lives of orphans and vulnerable children”, was hijacked by
one of the co-founders who he claims mismanaged the project, tried to oust
him and ran up rent arrears. The electricity was off for five months. Venancious
fought back and he secured a scholarship to the 2004 Worlds Aids Conference
in Bangkok in search of funds.
Through sheer grit and determination Venancious got the home back on track
and the electricity restored. By January 2005 it was considered viable enough
to be registered by the local Windhoek health and social services ministry
and take their referrals. The Venancious Rukero Orphan and Vulnerable Children
Foundation now runs the project and has developed a five-year plan of activity
that involves more outreach, better premises and back-to-school programmes.
From the gutter to the stars
Amazingly, the volunteer-run orphanage survives on very little apart from
the odd grant from organisations like the Icelandic International Development
Agency. Air Namibia sponsors all Venancius’ international trips, he
receives assistance from VSO/RAISA, Kalahari Sands Hotel, and technical support
from IBIS, a Danish NGO in Namibia, dealing with educational and HIV/Aids
issues. During his fortnight in the UK, Venancius was busy. He attended the
Hero Awards as escort to the First Secretary of Namibia, Miss Hedwig Tjituka,
after the UKC invited them. Venancius has certainly come a long way from his
childhood of washing cars and turning tricks for foreign tourists on the streets
of Windhoek; he’s starting to realise his dream of transforming the
lives of Namibia’s most vulnerable residents.
• Anyone who is interested in contributing to the shelter, contact Venancius
at vrukero@yahoo.com
