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\n\u201cCare for us and accept us \u2013 we are all human beings.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The impact of Nkosi & KidsRights\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Nkosi was\u00a0the first winner of the International Children’s Peace Prize.<\/strong>\u00a0The prize was\u00a0posthumously\u00a0<\/strong>dedicated to him in 2005 and the statuette was\u00a0named after\u00a0<\/strong>him. The\u00a0‘Nkosi’<\/strong>, a statuette of a child that sets the world in motion, is awarded annually to the winner of the International Children’s Peace Prize.<\/p>\n Xolani Nkosi was born on 4 February 1989 in Johannesburg, South African. The name Nkosi means\u00a0‘king’\u00a0<\/strong>in Zulu, but unlike his powerful name, he was a small baby weighing only 4 pounds. His mother, \u00a019-year-old Daphne, immediately noticed that he was different from his sister Mbabli. He had trouble drinking and had breathing difficulties. She decided to move to the capital to find work as a cleaning lady and to receive better\u00a0medical care<\/strong>\u00a0for her baby. At the time, she did not know that Nkosi was\u00a0HIV-positive<\/strong>, just as she did not know that she herself was infected with the virus. Nkosi\u2019s mother found out when she went to the doctor because she was not feeling well. Suddenly it also became clear why Nkosi was so sick. It was only in the late 80’s then and there was still a\u00a0huge taboo<\/strong>\u00a0on HIV and AIDS, thus little was known about the disease.<\/p>\n What happened to her, happened to many HIV-positive women; even though she hadn\u2019t told anyone that she was HIV positive, her employer found out. As a result, she got fired. When her landlord heard about this, he also showed her the door. In\u00a0the search\u00a0<\/strong>for a\u00a0safe place<\/strong>\u00a0for her sick Nkosi, she took him to a shelter for HIV-positive men in Johannesburg where Nkosi came into contact with\u00a0Gail Johnson,<\/strong>\u00a0one of the founders of the shelter. When Nkosi was 8 years old, his mother passed away and Gail became Nkosi’s foster mother.<\/p>\n When Nkosi reached the age to go to school, he was not admitted because of his HIV infection. Gail was already expecting problems when she checked that Nkosi was HIV positive on the application form, but she did not want to lie about it.<\/p>\n “I knew there would be trouble, but I thought, rather now than in six months. There was a lot of fear and not much knowledge about AIDS. There were no guidelines for school, for parents, nothing. The parents protested, because they did not want a child with AIDS in their child\u2019s class.” Aldus Gail Johnson.<\/em><\/p>\n As a result of this event, Gail organized a\u00a0workshop<\/strong>\u00a0to teach both, the school and the parents, that they do not have to be afraid of a child with AIDS. Nkosi and Gail were instantly known in South Africa. They gave\u00a0interviews<\/strong>\u00a0every day for a week and Nkosi was spoken about in the\u00a0Parliament<\/strong>. Ultimately, the court determined that schools cannot refuse children on\u00a0medical grounds<\/strong>. It is a\u00a0milestone<\/strong>\u00a0for all children with the virus. From that moment on, Nkosi started to\u00a0speak publicly\u00a0<\/strong>about his illness. In these years there was hardly any knowledge about AIDS and HIV. Nkosi taught people what it was like to have AIDS by telling them about it.<\/p>\n\n
Nkosi\u2019s story<\/h2>\n
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To school<\/h2>\n