OneWorld.net (U.S.)

for speaking out when others wouldn't and being a role model for millions of young people living with AIDS worldwide, until her death on June 5

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (OneWorld.net) - Thembi Ngubane stood less than 5 feet tall and lived in a shack in a South African township, but empowered with a tape recorder and a radio platform she became a powerful messenger of hope and defiance against HIV/AIDS across her home country and the world. She died this June, at the age of 24.

The U.S. National Public Radio program "Radio Diaries" gave Ngubane the chance to tell her story to millions worldwide, but her greatest pride came from traveling across South Africa to speak at high schools, universities, community clinics, Constitution Hill, and Parliament.

This was at a time when few South Africans spoke openly about their status and the country's health minister promoted garlic and lemons as a remedy for AIDS, while mistrusting scientifically proven antiretroviral medications.

Ngubane was, in a sense, the antidote to that sort of thinking. "Every time I went to the clinic, someone is dying because all these people have lack of knowledge; all these people don't believe AIDS exists," she said. "That's why people must stop discriminating because it's not going to go away. It's up to us to do something about us."

Ngubane kept a blog during her two-week tour of South Africa. She called the awareness-raising trip "the most important thing I have done," despite having toured the United States and other foreign countries meeting with dignitaries including former president Bill Clinton and future president Barack Obama.

Thembi Ngubane. © Thembi Ngubane's blog"Accept that AIDS is here," she told the country's leaders during her visit to Parliament. The Sunday Independent newspaper reported that Ngubane's presentation was "compelling" and a "step in the right direction" for a country that has been "grappling for years with institutional silence on AIDS."

In her blog profile, Ngubane wrote: "At first I wanted to keep my identity anonymous. But I began to love the diary and it became part of me. At the same time people around me were dying of HIV and AIDS so I felt that I had to disclose. I was invited on a five city speaking tour in the U.S. in 2006 presenting to high schools, colleges, community centers, and even for places like CNN and MTV. At this point I saw people's positive response and I decided that this documentary must also reach people in South Africa. Reaching people with my story in South Africa is the most important thing I have done. This is because in my country everyone is either infected or affected by this disease." [» Read more from Ngubane's blog here.]

Indeed, over 5 million people are believed to be living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa today; that, in a country of less than 50 million.

"Thembi Ngubane lived in a shack in Khayelitsha in poverty. But she refused to be 'typical.' She committed 'acts of insubordination,'" eulogized South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper. "Ngubane rebelled in her own way against social attitudes towards black women, black youth, poor people, shackdwellers, as well as definitions of what constitutes heroism. Ngubane gave voice to people living with HIV/AIDS at many forums and continues to do so through the story and media she produced and leaves behind.

"It is not sentimental to say that her honesty, wisdom, courage and inspiration is a legacy to be treasured in the same way of the legacies of heroes who fought the injustices of the Apartheid system," the newspaper concluded. "Ngubane is in many ways, one of South Africa's own post-1976 heroines."

Joe Richman is the independent radio producer who gave Ngubane the tape recorder that changed her life -- and the lives of so many others. He remembers her as "a big presence: brave, open, and funny, with a really charming smile. It was sometimes difficult to remember that she was sick," he said in a remembrance the day after her death. [» Click here for the full tribute from Richman on National Public Radio.]

Speaking at her memorial service, Ngubane's boyfriend Melikhaya, whom she infected with HIV, said: "You were my best friend, my hero, my role model. Rest in peace, baby. You did the right thing in this world." The two had a young daughter, Onwabo, who is not infected.

One of the first things Ngubane recorded for her diary in 2004 was what she called her "HIV prayer."

"Hello, HIV, you trespasser, you are in my body," she said. "You have to obey the rules.

"You have to respect me. And if you don't hurt me, I won't hurt you. You mind your business. I'll mind mine. And I will give you a ticket when the time comes." [» Listen to Ngubane's entire dairy at the AIDS Diary Web site.]

Check out this 5-minute video of Ngubane's South Africa tour:

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