Work Work Work!

From what I've learned so far, the organization I'm working for is a coordinating body for hundreds of support groups that have formed at community levels for people infected and affected by HIV.

The Support Groups face many challenges, including huge difficulty with stigma and discrimination. Especially within rural and isolated communities, there is an astounding amount of discrimination against people living with HIV. A barrier to the fight against the HIV epidemic is simply creating openness for people to get tested and disclose their status.

The organization provides support to PLWHA (People living with HIV/Aids) through several different programs:

-they doing training workshops on Stigma & Discrimination, Human Rights, and Gender Based Violence
-they provide training on nutrition, home-based care, ART (anti-retroviral treatment), TB signs and symptoms, and the importance of testing for HIV
-they help with family planning services, and provide condoms (both male and female)
-they help start income generating activities (IGAs) within Support groups and run a Self-help program. The Self Help program is where support group members will agree to bring a small amount of money to every week's meeting. They then pool the money together and lend it to one of the members to finance a small project. (Like buying seeds for a garden, or feed for some chickens) Once the member has made enough profit, he/she will repay the sum borrowed with some interest.

Challenges

The challenges faced by PLWHA and the organization as a whole are extensive and encompass many aspects of Development. Here are just a few:
- Poverty: families cannot afford to buy food - this makes it difficult to sustain any sort of IGA (income generating activity), it decreases daily productivity, it makes it very difficult to take ARVs, and TB treatment. They do not have access to clean water, reliable shelter, schooling for their children etc.
-Centralised Care: ART is free in Swaziland, in addition to condoms and many other services provided by NGOs or the government, however this help does not often reach the most isolated and rural communities. If someone has to walk a very long distance to the nearest clinic it is less likely they will continue ART treatment.
-Vulnerable Children/Orphans: When adults die or become too weak because of HIV/Aids and other related illnesses, they often leave children behind. If and HIV-infected mother is not educated and has not sought proper medical counselling, it is relatively easy to transmit to her baby. Primary education is not free yet in Swaziland (bringing the issue of poverty back into the picture).
-Lack of education: Many of the information dissemination is in English, which is not widely spoken in especially rural areas. There are still a lot of traditional beliefs and customs which are inaccurate and exasperate the spread of HIV. People may take condoms, but they do not necessarily use them correctly.

I could go on! There are so many complex challenges, and of course many many wonderful people and programs attempting to tackle them. I have had a hard time just wrapping my head around all of it, because everything is so interconnected.

Phew...that was a bit long. I'll finish with a brief note on what I'll be working on during my stay. Recently the organization has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in attempt to coordinate and organize the Support groups into a Regional System. This will assist in coordination and cooperation between support groups, as well as effective implementation of programs and training in terms of the organization. I will be helping the organization develop a database of their Support Groups. (approx. 4000 members).

Please let me know if you have questions or comments!