My name is Rebekka Stredwick and I am a trustee of the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust UK. As a freelance ‘story teller’ and amateur photographer, I have always wanted to use my skills for good causes to amplify the voices of those in need and so move people to action. This vision became a reality in 2014 when I happened to be visiting South Africa on my way back from Australia where my sister lives. Fast forward to 2021, and I have been a trustee for a couple of years now. You might just wonder how this came about and so I want to tell you a little about this journey.
What I love about the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust in both the UK and South Africa, is that they are small, locally led organisations with big hearts and clear vision, enabling vulnerable adults and children to realise their hopes and dreams and live healthy lives. I was able to experience this first-hand through a short stint of volunteering in South Africa whilst travelling in 2014. My life was never to be the same again!
In 2015, I left the UK and moved to South Africa on a three-year visa enabling me to volunteer with the Hillcrest AIDS Centre SA. In the months before, I had raised my own travel and living expenses by asking my friends if they would support me and organising charity fundraising events including charity haircuts with my hairdresser! Being fully funded meant I could give my professional PR, fundraising and marketing skills to the charity for free.
My work in South Africa involved all sorts of things, but included spending time with people impacted by HIV and AIDS – young and elderly – documenting their journeys to recovery from serious illness, interviewing school kids about HIV prevention life skills and peer education programmes, meeting with granny’s (gogos) in their granny groups and writing about their wonderful sewing and beading creations, and driving out with the Feeding Scheme into rugged rural areas on dirt roads to deliver food parcels to child-headed households. I was also involved in supporting the renowned Gogolympics where 2000 grannies took part in sports to stay fit and healthy. I had many adventures (some very challenging indeed!) and one thing led to another…
It was during this time, that I met Margaret Turnbull, founder of the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust in the UK. I had been given the responsibility of liaising with Margaret about transport for children’s school trips to South Africa where they would teach kids in rural schools and paint classrooms. I was impressed with this educational project which enables kids from very different backgrounds to come together and learn from each other. I was also inspired by the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust UK’s sponsoring of gifted kids from the townships so they could cover the costs of schooling, and the fact that funds for school uniforms and Spirit of Adventure camps were also raised by Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust UK.
In late 2017, I returned to Europe for a couple of months to care for my mum through chemotherapy for cancer. Then in 2018, I moved back to Europe permanently to help mum rehabilitate after a back operation which had left her paralysed in one leg. A while after, Margaret mentioned that the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust UK was looking for additional trustees and assistance in setting up social media and content for the website, and assistance with fundraising activities. Once mum’s condition had improved, I swiftly volunteered my services! And the rest is history, so to speak.
Short visits to South Africa followed and in 2019, I was able to do some photo shoots with the school pupils we support, a school principal training session led by Margaret Turnbull and partners, and the Spirit of Adventure camp. It was great to see and document the impact of these projects first-hand.
During the Covid-19 crisis, where travel to South Africa and the UK has been impossible, I am currently doing everything remotely. However, I count it a privileged to be able to support the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust in the UK and South Africa and care for my mum at the same time. This is only possible with the support of a team of wonderful friends so that I can donate time and finances to charity needs as they arise. I am affiliated to the Church Mission Society UK (CMS) as a Missions Associate, and CMS’ prayers, encouragement, practical and emotional support have been invaluable. I am also very thankful that I can work with the lovely Margaret and Andy and the rest of the trustees at the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust UK, who make a fab team.
My other passions are cooking and hiking. I just love a hot and spicy Durban curry mopped up with mealie bread toasted on the braai – I will leave you to google what a braai is if you don’t already know!
My last word here is to encourage everyone to try some volunteering. It can be life changing. To find out more about how to volunteer to support the work of the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust UK, please contact us here: https://www.hillcrestaids.org.uk/contact-us/
Thank you!
Rebekka
We are a registered UK charity raising funds to support children impacted by HIV and AIDS and rural township schools. All money raised goes directly to the projects.