Nkomazi- On Thursday 15 October Nkomazi farm workers, farmers, NGO, municipality representatives and other stakeholders gathered at Neo Farms to celebrate the official launch of the Khanyisa project. Khanyisa, which means light the way, is a wellness project driven by Agri-IQ currently functioning on 8 farms in Nkomazi.

Sponsored by IOM, International Organization for Migration, in connection with USAID and PEPFAR, the aim of the program is to channel health and wellness information to the hard-toreach farm worker population ultimately empowering the farm workers and promoting health change.

The program emphasizes HIV education, as the HIV rate in Nkomazi is over 35 percent.

Each of the 8 farms selected Khanyisas, or change agents, to be trained as peer educators. These 37 Khanyisas have been extensively trained to bring important health information and resources back to the farms where they work.

At the launch, Wedzerai Chiyoka, project manager, described the support of the farmers. Without this support, the program would not be possible. “Farmers have lost many skilled workers and close friends because of health reasons,” explained Chiyoka.

“When we look at the day in the life of a farm worker, there is not much time for health information. They start work very early and have limited opportunities to learn.” The participating farmers have given the Khanyisa program permission to use working hours to run this important program. Although changes in behavior are a long term goal, the Khanyisa team hopes that the health and lifestyle messages that they stress, become part of everyday talk between the workers, and the Khanyisa will be a resource to the farmworkers.

After Chiyoka’s overview of the program, the Khanyisas took the stage singing and dancing announcing their determination to overcome the illnesses that affect their health and wellness.

Councilor T.S. Khoza spoke on behalf of the government and expressed the municipality’s support for the program. She expressed, “the government alone cannot change our lives; we need to hold hands. Together we can make a difference.”

Dabea Gaboutloeloe spoke on behalf of IOM, which recognizes that many of Nkomazi’s farm workers are migrants. “We promote humane migration of people. Migration is a good thing, but it comes with vulnerabilities, especially in the area of health,” Gaboutloeloe explained.

After all of the representatives spoke, the farmers were presented with lanterns as a symbol of appreciation for both their participation and their dedication to insuring the wellbeing of their workers.

“Before this, I thought there was no AIDS. Now we are alive, we aren’t sleeping. Now I’ve seen someone living healthy with the disease.

There is a lot of work to do in our community because people do not take HIV seriously; they think it’s a joke. There’s a lot of work to do, but it takes time and as Khanyisas we are prepared to make a change,” explained Riverside farm’s Vusi Thwala.