ACT Book 1 - Business communities

AIDS CARE TRUST

9 0 0 2 E R U H B RO C

BUSINESS COMMUNITIES

Strategic and funding partners include: UNICEF, Global Fund Programme, Nawa Life Trust in partnership with John Hopkins Center for Communication, AIDS Care Trust Revenue and corporate partners.

A Word From The AIDS CARE TRUST PROGRAMMES OVERVIEW Director Of Act! 2

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Established as a Trust in 1992 (Registration number WO 163), at the core mission of the AIDS Care Trust (ACT) is to alleviate the burden of HIV on infected and directly affected people, the communities they exist in and society at large.

The main strategy is to create an enabling environment that allows AIDS Care Trust beneficiaries to have access to relevant health information, psychosocial (and where needed material support) and more importantly create opportunities for all ACT beneficiaries to attain a sustainable livelihood.

About

There are three main intervention programmes each of which are comprised of several projects funded and supported by different partners and stake holders. Although the AIDS Care Trust is primarily a donor funded institution, a multi sectoral approach to interventions has deemed it necessary to engage several other local and international partners of which the key players are the Global Fund Programme in Namibia, the Ministry of Health and Social Services and United Nations agencies. Below is a summary of the current programmes and their respective components and partnerships:

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1.1 Home Based Care and Counseling The provision of Home Based Care is based on the principle that care should be provided to people with HIV and AIDS in their home environment, thus avoiding hospital related anxiety, stress and stigma. Home based care is in essence a form of palliative care provided to the chronically ill in their home environment. Though the role out of Anti retroviral therapy has provided tremendous relief to home based care givers challenges such as lack of access to treatment centers and poor nutrition contribute to a high number of defaulters. Thus the dynamics of the home based care principal have shifted with a greater need for treatment literacy and counseling becoming more apparent.

Counseling is provided on an ongoing to clients and the public at large through a referral system network between ACT, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (through the public hospitals), the Women and Child Protection Unit and Childline Lifeline. The various types of counseling include trauma counseling, spiritual counseling, pre and post test counseling, family counseling and adherence counseling.

Training is a key intervention in the management of HIV. It is vital to remain up to date with the latest developments and information. As such the AIDS Care Trust provides training and workshops to family members of infected individuals, peer educator training within communities and nutrition and treatment literacy to infected individuals and their care givers. This approach also promotes cohesion within communities and a unified response to HIV mitigation thereby alleviating stigma. ACT is currently one of two organizations in the country 4

1. Care and support of PLWHA

t h a t provide home based care training and is the sole distributor of home based care kits in the Khomas region. This is due to strong ties between ACT and the Ministry of Health and Social Services.

1.2 Establishment of support groups Support groups provide people infected and affected with HIV the opportunity to share experiences and strengthen community ties.

Several support groups led by the beneficiaries themselves have been established in all the constituencies and regions in which ACT has operations. It is through support groups that the everyday challenges and successes of PLWHA are highlighted. A dialogue is created through which social capital within communities can be enhanced by the communities themselves.

The Trust currently has 8 support groups in three regions.

1.3. Income generation activities These include: • Sewing • Embroidery • Beadwork • Craft making Approximately 80% of ACT beneficiaries are women and children. There is a direct correlation between HIV infection and low socio-economic status. A lower socio economic status usually translates into various forms of abuse, intergenerational sex, transactional sex, lack of access to information and education and widening gender disparities.

Many of the women sustain their families through informal businesses. The ACT established an Emergency relief fund which in essence is a micro financing scheme awarded to the women to enable them to start up an informal business or enhance an existing one. Currently though, ACT is in the process of establishing an intensive training program with 50 of the women involved in income generating activities to

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OUR PROGRAMMES initiate them into the formal business sector. The training program involves skills development and/or enhancement, basic numeracy and computer skills and basic management. The aim is to convert these income generating activities into viable small and medium enterprises thus enabling HIV positive women to contribute to the country’s economy. ACT will provide exposure to the relevant market as well provide technical support to insure this is possible.

1.4. Food security Nutritional care and support for chronically ill people including PLWHA is one of the crucial components of comprehensive care package of the home-based care program. HIV and AIDS affect nutrition by decreasing food consumption, impairing nutrient absorption and changes in metabolism. Improving and

maintaining good nutrition may prolong life and delay HIV disease progression. In order to improve nutrition for chronically ill patients including PLWHA ACT has developed mechanisms to address issues of food security and food acquisition for the most needy.

Thus several community driven gardens have been established in partnership with FAO and The City of Windhoek community development directorate to address this.

Communities are provided with the skills and means to establish vegetable gardens in and around their homes. This also provides an income for many as surplus vegetables are sold in order to purchase seedlings and fertilizers for the next crop harvest.

Funding and strategic partners: Global Fund Programme, Ministry of Health and Social Services, UNDP, UNAIDS, FAO, National Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (Lironga Eparu),

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Charity is a virtue of the heart, and not of the hands.

-Joseph Addison

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2.1. After school programme ACT has approximately 1200 orphans and vulnerable children registered on a data base.

Many of these live with a single parent, guardian or caregiver. Roughly 40% of these are HIV positive. Their ages vary between 5 and 17 years of age.

The after school programme is a community-based after-school project that focuses on the healthy early development of vulnerable children. Using a holistic approach, the programme addresses the physical health, academic status, personal development, and community involvement of today’s children, with a commitment to improving and empowering the future of the country. By meeting the developmental needs of children, the programme contributes a great deal towards positively shaping their lives. The programme provides a safe, supervised afterschool environment for young children and helps decrease juvenile crimes, sexual and substance abuse. The programme provides an opportunity for support and volunteerism, thereby enabling all Namibians to take ownership of the future of their communities.

There is a regular attendance of 115 to 120 children every weekday at two operational centers and on some weekends during special events such as camps or day trips. During these hours students can be engaged in some of the following activities: Academic tutoring, Sports, Life Skills training (HIV and AIDS education, building self-esteem, leadership development and high school choices), coaching and understanding adolescent and paediatric HIV and participation in community volunteering.

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2. Youth development programme

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a) Academic Assistance All participants (grade 1-7) receive academic tutoring and lessons five days a week. The objective is to help learners to be well prepared for secondary school level and as for the junior children to support them for their future school life. b) Sports and physical development Sports provide the foundation of the ACT programme. Sports attracts participants to the programme, increases physical activity, develops self-confidence and leadership skills, encourages team playing and acts as a platform to discuss HIV and AIDS and other health related topics through Kicking AIDS Out Games. In this component we also have movement therapy as an alternative to conventional therapy methods. c) Life Skills A comprehensive life skills programme which focuses on educating participants on health information, education, HIV and AIDS, sexual reproductive health, leadership and the environment.

Substantial effort is made to ensure that education on these topics is presented in an interactive and interesting manner. In the community guest speakers, field trips

and camps have acted as agents to enhance the programme’s life skill component. d) Gender Programming Both males and females participate in a gender programme dedicated to increasing self-confidence, challenging stereotypes, addressing gender dynamics within Namibia and discussing issues that are genderrelevant. e) Psychological Assistance As most of the children are traumatized by their past experiences family lives, ACT OVC interacts with a clinical psychologist, who attends the daily programmes and weekend activities regularly, in order to articulate the children’s’ needs. Thus ACT OVC can directly intervene to bring up the best solution for the child.

ACT is in the process of revamping these after school centers. Funding has been made available to build ICT hubs in each of the two centers with the goal of replicating them nationwide. These hubs are a multimedia network that will provide access to computers, internet, emailing, libraries and a wealth of information.

2.2. Training of orphans vulnerable caregivers

their care. This includes receiving orphan grants on their behalves, administering of medication and food, ensuring school attendance.

ACT in turn provides uniforms, food parcels and supplements for OVC registered on the data base.

The Youth development programme is funded by the Global Fund Programme with support from UNICEF, The Ministries of Health and Social Services and Gender Equality and Child Welfare and other

OUR PROGRAMMES

The after school project attracts a large number of interns both national and international due to the diversity of activities and its holistic approach. There are five main components that form the core of this programme:

and

Through the Ministry of Health and Global Fund Program, ACT has trained more than 1040 community members as care givers for orphans and vulnerable children, these care givers’ responsibility is to see to the basic needs of orphans and vulnerable children in E: info@aidscaretrust.com www.aidscaretrust.com

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Charity looks at the need and not at the cause.

- German Proverb

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3. Workplace programme 12

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Training of all levels of employment

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Training of peer educators

• Design and implementation of Information Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns •

Counseling and Home-based Care

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Extension into communities

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Monitoring and supervision of programmes

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Organizing special events

The AIDS Care Trust has to date implemented workplace programmes in over 200 institutions. This is also the income generating wing of the organization as companies and small and medium enterprises are required to pay set fees for this service.

Partners include the Namibian Business Coalition on AIDS, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Global Fund programme and several corporate partners.

4. Information Education and Communication The Information Education and Communication or IEC unit of the AIDS Care Trust was established as the primary source of information dissemination. This unit is responsible for d hhevelopment and enhancing of material and all other means of communication in all the respective units and departments of the organization. Various strategies are implemented to ensure effective information and material dissemination, such as workshops, trainings, awareness campaigns, regular media presentations, distribution of newsletters and hosting of special events.

OUR PROGRAMMES

With the impact of HIV on the county’s workforce and economy and increasing labour violations by employers, the constitution of Namibia was amended to include HIV policy implementation in all sectors of employment. ACT recognized a gap in the private sector and designed a model specifically for workplaces. Workplace intervention programmes were launched to address the lack of awareness and prevention strategies in the private sector in 1999. The workplace programme focuses on the presentations to top-management about the socio-economic impact of HIV/ AIDS on workplaces. In partnership with the AIDS Law Unit of the Legal Assistance Center, ACT embarked on human rights based approach in response to the epidemic within the workforce. To this end, AIDS Care Trust developed training material and implementation strategies for workplaces which have been adopted throughout the country. Part of the comprehensive package includes:

Strategic and funding partners include: UNICEF, Global Fund Programme, Nawa Life Trust in partnership with John Hopkins Center for Communication, AIDS Care Trust Revenue and corporate partners.

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I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.

- Thomas Jefferson

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ACAT is involved in rural people development through programmes designed to assist people grow more food in a sustainable way, generate income, receive education and training, and become knowledgeable about the HIV and AIDS virus.

WE NEED: Building funds - we need to extend the accommodation facilities at our training centre which is used to train rural people. Plans are in place. Finances are not.

CALL 8520453-452

WHERE DO YOU FIT IN?

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