Dr. Adamu Addissie from the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Department-Medan ACTS Program in Ethiopia

“The danger to orphans may not be orphanhood but the way communities deal with parentless children. Several studies have shown that, more than the loss of one or both parents to the disease, it is the stigma attached to AIDS that makes life hard for orphans. Orphaned children face discrimination within their families, communities, churches and schools before and after the death of their parents.” (from Kinder Not Hilfe as reported by Dr. Adamu Addissie from the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Department-Medan ACTS Program in Ethiopia. Seed Grant recipient of Global Health Action’s 2005 course on the Design, Management and Evaluation of HIV/AIDS Community-based programs)

It is estimated that there are more than 4.5 million orphans in Ethiopia, with at least 500,000 of them orphaned by AIDS.  Ethiopia now faces the huge task of providing adequate treatment, care and support to affected households (UNAIDS report 2005).  Because of this situation, the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Department-Medan ACTS Program promotes strong community based programs focusing on home based care, including care and support of orphans and vulnerable children, at eight different sites in Ethiopia.  At one site in Awassa town in southern Ethiopia, there are more than 10,000 orphans, the majority orphaned by AIDS (Medan ACTS, 2005). Being an orphan often means a lack of psychosocial and socio-economic support that affects households, communities and societies at large.  Medan ACTS will receive a seed grant from Global Health Action in order to continue providing the skills necessary to 20 orphans who are the heads of their households so they can begin income generating activities in order to support their household.  In addition, the grant will enable Medan ACTS to help 200 parents living with AIDS to plan for the future of their children as well as make education accessible to 100 orphans who previously could not go to school.

Rev. Issa Bello - Building the Capacity of Church Leaders to Respond to HIV/ AIDS in the Church and Community

Rev. Issa Bello, HIV/AIDS coordinator for the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) AIDS ministry in Jos, Nigeria, received Global Health Action’s $5,000 seed grant.  His project aims to provide HIV/AIDS counseling and support, and to increase the utilization of HIV/AIDS services in the community.  In 2004, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in Nigeria were estimated at 5.8%.  In the selected districts where ECWA is working, the rate is 8%.  ECWA designed this program with the understanding that the church plays a major role in HIV/AIDS prevention and care among its members and communities.

The project will provide leadership training to 400 church leaders, consisting of men, women and youth residing in high HIV prevalence areas.  These church leaders will help establish HIV/AIDS prevention programs in their parishes, reaching thousands from their congregations.  The project will build the capacity of church leaders in eight District Church Councils in Nigeria where HIV/AIDS outreach and services are less prevalent.  Each District Church Council will have an average of 50 leaders, who are selected from local churches..  The training curriculum will cover transmission and prevention of HIV, stigmatization and discrimination, and home-based and orphan care.

According to Rev. Bello, “despite great amounts of resources being invested in HIV/AIDS prevention, the general public’s response to and demand for HIV/AIDS services is still generally poor.  Discrimination against HIV infected citizens and the level of stigma attached to HIV/AIDS is still high.” As a result, Pastors and Church leaders act as counselors to their parishioners, but do not have adequate training in HIV/AIDS.  All of these issues demonstrate the need to improve the capacity of church leaders to better address the issues concerning HIV/AIDS that are presented to them by the members of their congregations.  Church leaders will encourage actual and potential users of HIV/AIDS prevention and care services within the Church and community.  In addition, they will work to empower individuals to demand  new or improved services, to dialogue more with service providers, to advocate for more comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention and care services in their communities.

Zimbabwe AIDS Prevention and Support Organization (ZAPSO) - The Involvement of Community-Based Health Workers Including Traditional Birth Attendants in the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV

“In resource-rich countries, mother-to-child HIV transmission rates have been reduced to less than 2% due to antiretroviral drugs, elective caesarean section, and avoidance of breastfeeding.  However, in resource-poor settings such as Zimbabwe, over 90% of HIV infections in children 0-14 years are a result of mother-to-child transmission.”
  -F. Tarwireyi

Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in southern Africa with a population of approximately 11 million, has an alarmingly high prevalence of HIV at 24.6%.  Among pregnant women, 30% of are estimated to be HIV positive and more than 15% of new infections every year are from mother-to-child transmission.  More than 80 babies are born with HIV each day in Zimbabwe and account for 7-9% of all HIV infections.

Global Health Action has awarded the Zimbabwe AIDS Prevention and Support Organization (ZAPSO) with a seed grant in order to impact these devastating statistics.  ZAPSO is a non-governmental organization created to assist the formal and informal private sector in establishing and strengthening HIV/AIDS prevention policies and programs. ZAPSO aims to reduce high risk behaviors in the general population and workplace through strengthening the capacity of organizations within these sectors.  They strive to develop and implement HIV / AIDS program responses that effectively address its impact on the population.. 

The goal of the program is to increase the number of HIV negative babies born to HIV positive mothers through Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) intervention. The components of the program will be training community health workers, raising community awareness, encouraging social mobilization, increasing access to voluntary counseling and HIV testing, offering niverapine to pregnant mothers, and administering niverapine to babies.  The project takes place in the Makoni district of Zimbabwe, with 45 health facilities in rural and urban settings offering PMTCT.  By the end of the project, at least 400 participants are expected to be involved, including pregnant women and community health workers.

Joseph Mubiru
Lwankoni Sub-county, Rakai District, Uganda

A GHA seed grant recipient, Josephy Mubiru attended the Design, Management and Evaluation of Community-based HIV/AIDS Programs course in May 2003.

As a Public Health Advisor for Community Welfare Services (COWESER), Joseph Mubiru developed a five-year strategic plan towards meeting the expressed community needs, but was unable to begin the project due to insufficient funds. With the help of the $5,000 seed grant he received from GHA, Mubiru was able to initiate the project that works to mitigate the socio-economic effects of HIV/AIDS in his home community of Lwankoni Sub-county, Rakai District, Uganda.

The project focuses on increasing HIV/AIDS awareness and lowering high-risk behavior to reduce its transmission among at-risk groups, school children and orphans. The project has generated an up-to-date orphan database for the entire sub-county and has introduced health education drama messages to address the low literacy rate. On a daily basis, Mubiru uses the skills he attained from GHA’s training to manage and evaluate his project.

To date, Mubiru's project has reached an ever expanding audience of school children, teens, women, men and orphans, and continues to make more individuals aware of the socio-economic effects of HIV/AIDS and its transmission. Given the strong extended family relationship in Uganda, every house is indirectly impacted by the effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Mubiru hopes that with the continued support of GHA, the knowledge he and his organization have brought to Lwankoni will gradually help end misconceptions of how HIV/AIDS is transmitted and stop its spread within the community.

Pauline Kilele
Mwanza Town, Tanzania
A GHA seed grant recipient, Pauline Kilele attended the Design, Management and Evaluation of Community-based HIV/AIDS Programs course in May 2003.

As the Regional Coordinator for the Tanzanian Red Cross Society (TRCS), Mwanza Region, Pauline estimates that 40 percent of Mwanza hospital beds are occupied by HIV/AIDS patients. As part of GHA’s course, Pauline devised and implemented a program that works to strengthen her organization to better address the issues of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases among youth in Mwanza.

Kilele's project aims to improve the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) of adolescent youth on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections, with an emphasis on sexual health in Mwanza Town. The project targets youth, in and out of school, ages 12 to 21.

Kilele serves as the project manager, recruiting volunteers for the day-to-day operations of the Youth Information Resource Center. The $5,000 seed grant awarded by GHA has been used to train Peer Educators (PEs) and Youth Peers (YPs) during a twelve-month period and to equip the Youth Information Resource Center. GHA’s grant helped Kilele obtain a matching grant, which was used to finish construction on her project’s Youth Education Center.The project provides access for 200 youth to the information, education and communication materials at the TRCS Center, and creates a Youth Peer Education Program where 50 PEs will train 200 YPs on KAP related to causes and prevention of HIV/AIDS in Mwanza Town.

To date, she has been able to reach 1,029 women and 1,023 men. Her Youth Peer Education Project has helped to diminish misconceptions about HIV transmission and discrimination of those that are living with HIV/AIDS, and it has educated at-risk youth on methods of prevention.

Pauline credits GHA’s course with giving her the skills necessary to properly plan, design, implement and evaluate a community-based HIV/AIDS program, and strengthening her ability to work more closely with her community. “I can say that I now have the confidence to face the community, work with them and be able to involve them in every aspect of project implementation. Additionally, I was able to network with other African colleagues working in the same area of interest, share experiences and exchange information. The GHA facilitators were very dynamic and were able to work with any culture or community.”

Seed Grants in Francophone Africa

After Senior Director of Programs, Dr. Yolanta Melamed and Senior Program Manager, Lynda Lattke successfully facilitated the GHA Design, Management and Evaluation training in Dakar (Senegal) from February 6th-11th, 2006, participates were asked to submit a proposal for seed grant. A total of 21 health professionals from Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Guinee, Ivory Coast and Senegal participated in the training. A committee of 5 health professionals at HQ reviewed these proposals and awareded seed grants to ENDA and CERPAD.

ENDA Tiers Monde: Economic Empowerment Project for Clandestine Sex Workers in Dakar
ENDA-Tiers Monde has selected 20 beneficiaries of the program based on their overall vulnerability, and level involvement with ENDA programs. Priority was given to women who are HIV+. Thirteen women are currently participating in income generating projects, while 7 are currently enrolled in professional training programs. ENDA-Tier Monde has engaged a microfinance company to work with the project and oversee the dispersal of funds to the women. This group, Women, Development, Enterprise in Africa mission is to offer vulnerable populations an opportunity to access credit and bank account, while also helping them manage these funds. ENDA-Tiers Monde reported that they are pleased at the success of the program and the women’s motivation and dedication to the seed grant project.

The Center for Studies, Research on the Development and Application of Partnerships (CERPAD) seed grant in Ziguinchor, Senegal:
Border Dynamics of the Casamance in relationship to the AIDS Pandemic
In January 2007 a two-day workshop was conducted for 18 community mobilizers/facilitators. The workshop focused on STI/HIV knowledge, how to lead a participatory information session, their role as a facilitator, communication through role-plays and also showed some short films on HIV. These community mobilizers are now working in their respective communities.