TASC initiates CARE Letsema project…

 

 

Support and care for affected grandmothers…..

 

 

Christians and AIDS …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TASC initiates CARE Letsema project in Swaziland

 

In the period April to September 2006, TASC conducted a project called CARE Letsema. The project provides HIV testing, counselling, home based care, medical care, HIV and AIDS literature, female and male condoms. The services were provided in five rural communities in the Shiselweni region, that is: Nsalitje, Lulakeni, New Haven, Qomintaba and Matsanjeni. CARE Letsema is a South Africa-Lesotho based consortium funded by CARE International.

 

1,1624people received HIV/AIDS education in the five rural communities. 1,015 female condoms and 1, 8188 male condoms were distributed by TASC Community VCT counselors. 398 clients went through HIV/AIDS pre-test counseling and testing, and 73 clients returned for re-test counseling, 203 clients received ongoing supportive counseling. 141 clients were referred for continuity of care to other health and care facilities.

 

5,209 IEC materials (677 booklets and 4,532 leaflets) were distributed by TASC VCT counselors and trained home based peer educators. Close to one hundred (98) home visits were conducted by TASC counselors.

 

Lessons Learnt

A great need for HIV testing and counseling was in the rural communities, as indicated by the large number of clients waiting for HIV tests.

 

Other challenges facing these communities include that some clients who tested positive cannot afford to continue with care when referred to health facility. Reasons cited were transport costs to and from the health facilities.

 

The home visits are helpful in that they assist the counselors in understanding the family structures and identifying points of interventions. Technical support provided by the TASC counselors on HIV prevention and care given to family members were aimed at reducing stigma and discrimination. The clients really appreciated the supply provided by the counselors (such as  e-pap food supplements) given to them and were encouraged to utilize the TASC services.

 

Circumcision

In all these communities circumcision was discussed. An observation was made that in all these communities, male participation was high in terms of responses compared to females. The men were for circumcision, yet it was noted that they lacked the necessary understanding as to whether circumcision prevents HIV infection or not.

 

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Support and care for affected grandmothers

 

TASC, under the auspices of the Stephen Lewis Foundation is conducting a project which provides support and care of HIV/AIDS affected grandmothers and children under their care in ten households in 5 rural communities in Swaziland.

 

The objectives of this project are to provide counseling and support to affected grand mothers and the children, provide life skills training to the children, provide basic hygienic and medical supplies, collect and compile information about additional needs (shelter, school fees, clothing, food etc) of the grandmothers and children for the purpose of resource mobilization and referral.

 

This is one of the initiatives aimed at addressing issues of the elderly who are in most cases left with the burden of caring for a number of their grand-children orphaned by the HIV and AIDS pandemic, as a majority of whom are widows who have no source of income to make ends meet.

 

Communities which are currently receiving this assistance are: Nkamazi, foothills of Mdzimba Mountains (1 household), Kudzeni (3 households), Ngculwini (3 households); from the Manzini Region. From the Lubombo Region, the communities are Mahlabatsini (1 household), Manyovu (1 household) and Phuzamoya (2 households). This project will run for a year as a pilot project.

 

The response in terms of demand is so overwhelming yet the resources are so minimal. TASC is soliciting further resources from different avenues which will enable the organisation to expand the roll-out of such a programme to other communities.

 

 

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The Christian faith and the AIDS situation in Swaziland

 

Cases of religion coming into conflict with efforts to fight the HIV and AIDS pandemic are on the increase. This is reflected where ministers of religion, especially the Christian faith, tell believers that they can be healed of the disease by prayer and advise them to stop using Antiretroviral Therapy.

 

Organization like Hospice at Home and The AIDS Information and Support Centre (TASC) have tried to address this issue, but the trend seems not to be abating, instead cases of clients who die after being advised to terminate their ART regimen by pastors is on the rise. Most of them seek the VCT service just to confirm their so-called divine attained negative status.

 

Speaking during the launch of the Church Forum, at the Mavuso Trade Centre, Reverend Absalom Dlamini, who is also the country’s minister of economic planning, appealed to pastors to seek confirmatory tests for their congregants before declaring them HIV negative or advising them to terminate their ART regimen. He said this can go a long in acquainting them with necessary basic facts about HIV and AIDS. The double minister said this can also play as a harmonizing tool between the work of health care providers and the religious sector or faith based institutions.

 

Pan African Christian AIDS Network (PACANET) representative during the launch, Raphael Avonyo said cooperation, perseverance and patience towards each other’s efforts are fundamental aspects of any success, such that if not incorporated into the HIV fight, more catastrophic results are yet to come.  Avonyo commended the fact that all seem so concerned about turning the tide against the HIV virus, but he warned that there is need to be cautious of scenarios where people are lost because of our efforts.

 

Such cases according to HIV experts manifest the need to truthfully and transparently bring the efforts of every stakeholder into one big boat. They say this can assist in averting scenarios like this one because there could be a standardization of information, especially sensitive information like HIV/AIDS and religion.

 

 

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