Cleopatra is a facilitator and counsellor at Mamelani. She is trained as a facilitator, health educator and a lay counsellor. She has vast knowledge and experience working in the HIV/AIDS and health sector. Her role in the organisation is to encourage people to take better care of their health. This is achieved by facilitating health education sessions in the community. She motivates people to know their health status and to test for TB, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and HIV. She supports individuals by advising them on how best to deal with their illness.
"I am passionate about helping individuals who are facing challenges - encouraging them to take their medication properly and dealing with the family issues they are facing. I believe we live in this shared world to help each other." - Cleopatra Sawuti
My name is Cleopatra Sawuti. I am a 37-year old woman. I come from King Williams Town from a village called Kwa Mbaxa. I joined the Mamelani team in September of 2003. At that time, the stigma around HIV/AIDS was extremely high. In my family we had two family members who were infected with HIV. It was my dream to work in a community to fight HIV. Today I am proud of myself because we have been able to run workshops and empower people in the Western Cape. We have also had the opportunity to offer support to individuals who have just found out their status. After they find out they are HIV positive, some do not know what they can do. This is where we fit in. I encourage them to feel open to join support groups so they can share their experiences with others and begin to live positively. Once they have the information they can live a positive life and can even support their neighbours and friends. Knowledge is power!
Running the Wellness Program is not an easy thing and in order to work with people I have learnt to be patient and flexible in order to really help others. Having clients for me is crucial because it allows me to evaluate the information, as I am able to see whether people are able to make the necessary lifestyle changes and improve their lives. It is important for me to emphasise that there is life beyond HIV. Recently, two of my clients have gone back to work after attending the Workshops. We also emphasise that people need to take responsibility and make an effort to make the changes they want to see. I am doing the work that I do to try and help those who are ready to help themselves. We all need to help ourselves, to deal with our own problems before we are able to help others. In this way we can share our experiences and help others. I love working at Mamelani as I am able to support those who don't have support from their families and friends.
