RX Radio began operating on the 1st of December 2016. The initiative aims to create a platform for communication between hospitalised children, their families, and health services by providing patients with the skills and support to produce and broadcast in-hospital radio programmes.

On Saturday, 19 May 2018, RX Radio celebrated one year of being on air.

The children presented live shows from 9am-3pm with pre-recorded shows airing from 3pm-9pm. Their parents, together with the RX Radio Reporters were there to share in the moment on the day.

Children in hospital commonly experience high levels of anxiety, isolation, fear and loneliness. These emotions are amplified when, as is frequently the case, there is little communication or consultation with them about their condition, diagnoses and treatment. Research demonstrates that children’s well-being in hospital can be significantly improved through access to stimulating age-appropriate recreational and educational activities. There is also increasing recognition of the value that a child’s perspective can offer, in order to improve hospital environments and experiences for children.

Child-produced radio is a rapidly developing field, with preliminary evidence pointing to many positive outcomes for both children and adults. While there are a number of children’s hospital radio stations globally, this will be the first in the world to involve patients as programme producers and presenters with the explicit aim of improving children’s experiences of hospitalisation.

RX Radio is a children’s hospital radio station, by and for children. It strives to empower all children at Red Cross Children’s Hospital, listening to stories about issues that are important to them.

To help sustain RX Radio, they welcome your financial support and this can be done by visiting www.rxradio.co.za

There are some pictures which have burned their way in my mind and I was reminded of that recently when Sam Nzima died, the photographer who took that classic picture of the dying Hector Petersen taken at the start of the 1976 Soweto riots. Images like music and smells can trigger memories and bring back all the emotions and feelings that are associated to that memory.

This week another image jumped out at me and brought back a flood of memories and emotions.

This week the University of Stellenbosch honoured child activist Nkosi Johnson, where a new residence has been named after him. The Nkosi Johnson House is the latest of three new student residences at the university’s Medical and Health Sciences campus in Tygerberg and holds the title of “greenest residence in Africa”, owing to its energy- and water saving features.

Surprisingly, considering the important role that Nkosi played, he has never received any award in South Africa as a critical voice in the struggle for social justice in the fight against HIV and AIDS in South Africa.

My memories of Nkosi are mostly around the the 13^th International AIDS Conference which was held in South Africa where Nkosi was the key note speaker.

The sight of this frail little boy with his tiny little voice gently asking people at the conference to recognise people like him and at the same time quietly letting the world and our government know that people with AIDS had rights too.

His last words at the conference became a clarion call which gladly today appears to be the norm. He said “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!”

I wanted to share this with my daughter and realised she was only born two years after Nkosi had died and as I shared the story I was aware of the fact at how absurd we were in our understanding of this disease. No wonder she calls it the olden days; sometimes it feels like the dark ages.

Nkosi became well known in 1997 when the school system decided that he could not attend a regular school and the surrounding press around that elevated the question of AIDS. At the time that he had risen to prominence the government denied any responsibility in fighting the disease. Our president had read the “fake news” and decided that there was no link between HIV and AIDS.

Our Minister of Health, Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang under President Thabo Mbeki controversially laid the emphasis on treating the AISA epidemic easily accessible vegetables such as garlic and beetroot, rather than with antiretroviral medicines, the subject of huge international criticism. It has been alleged that these policies led to the deaths of over 300,000 South Africans.

I know, it sounds crazy now but that was the government policy and it was only the other day.

To all those young activists who have played such big roles in making South Africa what it is today, you are not forgotten.