SOUTH AFRICA: The son of former president Mary Robinson yesterday opened a new Aids 'help house' in South Africa. Bill Corcoran was there.
From the outside, No 9 Raapenberg Road looks like just another Cape Town family home - but that is where the similarities end.
Once you walk past the white picket fence, the herb and vegetable garden and through the bungalow's front door, you have entered a house where people suffering from the HIV/Aids virus can come to learn how to help themselves.
The stigma attached to the HIV/Aids disease in South Africa has led to many sufferers refusing to acknowledge their affliction openly.
Consequently, they rarely seek help as to how best to look after themselves.
While HIV/Aids sufferers in the western world can expect to live relatively long and healthy lives through a combination of drug treatment and careful eating, in South Africa many go from contracting the disease to their death beds within the space of two years.
However, once a sufferer enters the house run by Aubrey Robinson - the 23-year-old son of former president Mary Robinson - and his friend Carly Tanur, they are encouraged and taught how to face up to their life threatening disease.
The two friends established their fledgling charity, the Mamelani Projects, 18 months ago and the "wellness" training centre on Raapenberg Road in Mowbray is the latest addition to the charity.
Ironically, it was Aubrey's disillusionment with his chosen career that led him to helping HIV/Aids sufferers who were disillusioned about the state of their own lives.
"I was studying art here in 2001. We decided to do something after an arts project we were involved in, which used street children, really opened our eyes. The kids were used in the project but they got nothing out of it - it was awful.
"At the time we noticed the black and coloured children were finding it hard to get along, so we organised a puppet workshop and it galvanised the group together," says Aubrey.
Since then, Aubrey and Carly have dropped out of college and gone on to tackle various social issues through their Mamelani Projects charity, which supports educational programmes in disadvantaged communities at a cost of around €40,000 a year.
The recently established Mamelani Wellness Program, however, is their most ambitious undertaking to date.
Such is the level of stigma attached to the HIV/Aids virus, South Africans who suspect they have contracted the virus rarely submit themselves at health centres to be tested, gather information about the disease, or investigate how best it can be brought under control.
At No 9 Raapenberg Road, HIV victims - and people who wish to know how to train others in healthcare - can discreetly learn what food types one needs to eat in order to boost the immune system; how one can lead a healthy life and how to deal with the stigma that surrounds the disease.
The current political battle over access to anti-retroviral drugs for HIV sufferers has led many South Africans to believe that if you fall sick, drugs are the only help.
But, according to Aubrey, this is not the case. He explains the drugs are very difficult for the body to take and if HIV/Aids sufferers follow their wellness program, they can increase their life expectancy even if they are not receiving the anti-retroviral medication.
"The programme is based on David Patient's lifestyle. He was HIV positive for 20 years and he never used any anti-retroviral drugs, he just had this really healthy lifestyle.
"It's all based on positive living and it's very practical. People learn about everyday items in the cupboard that can be used as remedies for illnesses. We try to get them into a positive mind set in relation to their illness, because there is no stigma attached to them when they are here," he maintains.
He says the wellness program is not exclusively for HIV/Aids sufferers because such restrictions would add to the stigma of the disease.
"It's not about singling out poor people or sick people: it's about being healthy," he insists.
"And as an Irishman this is a huge experience I am going through, because South Africa and the HIV/Aids issue is so complicated. I have had to learn a great deal in a short period of time."