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Patience Tyalimpi "The future of South Africa is more than political parties" "I WAS BORN AND BRED in the Transkei and then 1 came here [to Johannesburg) after doing my public health nursing and became involved with family planning-with Planned Parenthood. That was in 1970, which means 1 am more than twenty-five years with the organization. And 1 was the first nurse to be full-time, otherwise the other members of the staff were parttime and I was the first, from age 25 and on." Patience Tyalimpi, a rotund woman in her late forties, rose through the ranks to become director of education at the Johannesburg headquarters of Planned Parenthood of South Africa. During the years of sanctions, Planned Parenthood lost support from the international organization. Thus, as birth rates among Mricans spiraled in the country, the national office was forced to close inJuly 1992. The administrative staff squeezed into the downtown Johannesburg clinic, where they shared space with nurses, who examine female clients ofall races and who provide contraception at minimal cost. "At that time I was in charge ofthe [African) clinic and we were giving contraceptives and we were advising, counseling.... It wasn't a matter of giving these contraceptives over the counter as women came and we had groups. To each group we would explain what contraceptives are, and what were the advantages of using these; and that family planning is not something new. It is an old concept, it is now that science has become involved. The objectives of spacing children are still the same. "We are not here to stop women from having so many children but to encourage them to have the number which they want: for women to conceive and be sorry after. To have the number of children which you know you can 111 PATIENCE TYALIMPI feed, you can clothe, and love and you keep them at home. Not to mention the comfort of a home where there is love. . . . "At the same time we just did not concentrate on giving contraceptives, we also concentrated on letting women know about sexually transmitted diseases. We also gave ... we dealt with pap smears and preventative steps.... We did it so diligently that we ultimately found ourselves having no money to carryon with these programs. We counseled women to go to the hospital, followed that up, and saw over the child as well. We focused our attention on youth. Anybody who comes here ... we didn't say you are too young. Or if the mother comes with the child, we didn't say to the mother, 'your child is too young.' We separated them. We find out why she is here. If she has spoken to the child why she has brought her here. If she says 'no' then we would counsel the woman and tell her that not unless the child knows or has some sexual instruction, we cannot do anything to her. "Even if she is young, she has to be respected. We emphasize to the woman: we would ask her what does she like her daughter to have? Whatever she asks, we say, 'Okay we have this,' but what counts is the child. We cannot force them to use contraceptives when they don't know; and we can't counsel them under the circumstances. The choice of the child is very important because it requires cooperation. If we force her to obey us, she may feel negative about it [contraceptive) meaning she won't follow the instructions. "By separating the child from the mother, we make the child feel informed, make her welcome. If she knows why she is here, okay. If she doesn't know why she is here-sometimes the parents bring them here and they actually say, 'do something, don't tell her she may think I am giving her license to sleep around.' We don't involve ourselves in these situations. If she knows, and her mother brings her, we tell the child it is not that your mother doesn't trust you, it is because of what is happening outside. "Your mother loves you, but she not at ease to talk to you about sexual matters . But here you are free. You are welcome. We know you are a human being and we respect you. We make the child feel at home. "Usually we meet two types of children. Some will be really open and some will be really hostile. Hostile towards us and towards...

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