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ABOUT NKOSI
 Founded by Gail Johnson in April 1999 and named in honour of her 12 year old foster son and in memory of his biological mother who was unable to look after him, Nkosi’s Haven was officially opened on 14th April 1999. Infected with HIV from birth, Nkosi passed away on 1 June 2001 from an AIDS related disease. His legacy lives on. Nkosi Johnson was South Africa's longest surviving child born HIV positive. He died at 5.40am on Friday, 1 June. His life was characterised by his brave fight for the rights of the HIV positive. In July 2000, this slight child with the soulful eyes and full-blown Aids, captured the hearts of millions of TV viewers, when his address at the 13th International Aids Conference in Durban, South Africa, was televised worldwide. In a speech that he wrote himself, the then 11-year Nkosi spoke frankly to delegates about his experiences with HIV and about the issues surrounding Aids in South Africa. An excerpt from this speech reads: "Care for us and accept us - we are all human beings. We are normal. We have hands. We have feet. We can walk, we can talk, we have needs just like everyone else. Don't be afraid of us - we are all the same." Together with his "mommy Gail" (his foster mother Gail Johnson) Nkosi has made more of a difference in his 12 years than most people will achieve in a lifetime. Because of him, companies, individuals and indeed governments have opened their hearts and their pockets to People With Aids (PWAs) in South Africa, where the rate of HIV infection has reached pandemic proportions, with frightening speed. Born HIV positive on February 4, 1989 to Nonthlanthla Nkosi, Nkosi has been raised by Gail Johnson. Together, he and Gail have fought long and hard to raise awareness and to erase the stigma around the disease in South Africa, as well as to provide PWAs with shelter and care, of both the medical and the emotional variety. To this end, they have already established Nkosi's Havens, care centres for women and children with Aids, in Johannesburg. In the aforementioned speech, Nkosi had this to say: "Because I was separated from my mother at an early age, because we were both HIV positive, my mommy Gail and I have always wanted to start a care centre for HIV/Aids mothers and their children. "I am very happy and proud to say that the first Nkosi's Haven was opened last year. And we look after 10 mommies and 15 children. "My mommy Gail and I want to open five Nkosi's Havens by the end of next year because I want more infected mothers to stay together with their children - they mustn't be separated from their children so they can be together and live longer with the love that they need." Recently, the vision that gave birth to Nkosi's Havens, has expanded to include projects whereby, amongst others, PWAs will be provided with care and employment in communal environments. The Nkosi Johnson Aids Foundation was established in recent weeks, to accommodate this enlarged vision. “Our dream is to establish care centres for HIV/AIDS mothers and their children (infected or not) to ensure that they are able to live in an environment of acceptance and understanding. Here they will learn to care for themselves and their children and cope effectively with the new challenges that HIV/AIDS will present to them.” This Foundation seeks to raise funds for, amongst others, the following primary objectives:
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Schmidhauser Electrical Sponsors  Soweto Gospel Choir raise thousands for AIDS Orphans Director Dr Ali Bacher will, on behalf of the ICC Cricket World Nkosi Johnson Nominated for The World’s Children’s Prize Lala kahle, Nkosi South Africa's AIDS Champion, Nkosi Johnson, Passes away Johnson Refutes Newspaper's allegations Young AIDS activist Nkosi dies Statistics everyone should know Rejection of AIDS sufferers still rife
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