 South African AIDS campaigner dies at the age of 24.
Between 2004 and 2005 a nineteen year old South African HIV positive, Thembi Ngubane chronicled her life in a series of radio diaries. They were heard by over 50 million people in the USA, Britain, Australia and Canada. As a result of her recordings, Thembi went to America to tell her story in schools and colleges. She met President Clinton and Senator Barack Obama, as he then was, and in March 2007, she addressed the South African Parliament on the subject of HIV and AIDS. She also became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
On 4 June, Thembi died of multi-drug resistant Tuberculosis. She was only 24. She was one of nearly six million South Africans who suffer from AIDS. In this extract from her diaries, we hear about the impact of the disease on her life.
The diaries were recorded and produced by Joe Richman for National Public Radio in the USA .
Image © UNICEF/Giacomo Pirozzi |
