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AIDS research and HOPE centres |
AIDS Research and HOPE Projects AIDS -A Global Catastrophe Warnings about the extent of the epidemic have been voiced for many years. Already at the end of the 1980's Katherine Hall and Walter Barrows wrote the book "The Global AIDS Catastrophe," where they warn the world that if nothing is done there will be 50 million HIV infected at the turn of the century. The book was ignored - and so was its message - but they were right! It is first around 1996, when the application to the Foundation is written, that the world's attention on AIDS as a catastrophe, especially for the African continent, emerges. In 1996 UNAIDS is established as a special UN body with the task to focus on the AIDS epidemic. Governments establish national AIDS councils and make plans and strategies for how they can handle the epidemic. Humana People to People writes in the introduction to the actual application: "Through many years of work in Southern Africa it has become increasingly clear for Humana People to People that a large scale effort is required to fight against AIDS. Many good people who have worked at the projects throughout the years are not there anymore because they have died from AIDS, and many more are infected with HIV. This is an unparalleled tragedy." There are many conditions which turn the AIDS epidemic into a catastrophe in Africa - both for the people it affects, and for the countries with an increasing number of people infected. Nations and societies, which are already economically and socially disadvantaged, are the hardest hit. In the rural areas, where the majority of people live, there is basically no access to knowledge and information. People can live here and spread HIV infection among themselves without knowing what is going on, and without the knowledge that they themselves have an influence. When the families, friends or neighbors die, it is seemingly of malaria, pneumonia, tuberculosis... or a fourth thing. Without education and insight into the human biology it can be difficult to understand, much less relate to, that one is infected and can bring the infection to another person. But this is not done through education and information alone. Much more is needed to stop the epidemic. The behavior of the individual has to change, certain old traditions and habits must be replaced by new ones, much work has to be done to remove fear, prejudice, superstition, and discrimination, which naturally follow in the wake of an epidemic. Better food has to be acquired, care for the sick, medicine for treatment of opportunistic infections, and facilities so that people can get an HIV test. Care has to be given to the thousands who loose a husband, a wife, a child, their parents, a friend ... The consequences of the epidemic are far from calculated, but they are extensive. The epidemic constitutes a major threat to the development. Since its beginning, HIV has infected more than 50 million people on the earth (a figure from 2000) - of these, 22 million are dead. Today around 36 million people live with the HIV virus, and 25 million of these live in Sub-Saharan Africa. It was the opinion of the board of directors that such an extensive catastrophe calls on all humanistic forces. Everyone has to pull together and make their contribution to stop the epidemic and contain the many dreadful consequences it has brought people and societies. There is need for a humanitarian effort to reduce the human suffering cause by the AIDS epidemic. There is a need to research into and develop methods and structures for how the many people can be mobilized. There is a need for large scale research, a lot of money, courage, and hope. But without each single individual's active participation, the fight against AIDS cannot be won. And at the same time one has to realize that the people in Africa cannot win without humanitarian, economic and other support from people with a surplus. The board of directors of the Foundation had great respect for that Humana People to People takes part in this enormous task, and was glad to be able to make its modest contribution. The Project was Divided into Two Phases The first phase was dedicated to research and development. For a period of three months the actual model for a HOPE Center was developed. On the background of research and investigations a concept was developed for how a HOPE Center should look. The idea with the HOPE Center is basically to bring HOPE into an otherwise hopeless situation. The vision is that such centers with time, can be placed at the disposal of people everywhere in southern Africa, and that the experiences from these centers can be used scientifically as a contribution to the world wide fight against AIDS. After the three months of investigations a report was made and a five-year plan for the development of HOPE Centers in Southern Africa was elaborated. Now the work of establishing the four HOPE Centers could begin. The second phase was to establish four HOPE Centers; in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Angola. In one country after the other - with six months in between, so that all four centers could be operating after 2,5 years. The Model for a HOPE Center A HOPE Center physically consists of a building - well arranged and with beautiful surroundings. It is staffed with 7-8 people: a project leader for the whole project, a center leader, a doctor, a nutritionist, a counselor, a laboratory assistant, and two persons working with outreach programs in the local community. In addition to these there are volunteers, organized in action groups with 10-15 people in each group. The Center is placed centrally, and is open for everybody. Outreach work is carried out in the whole area, and satellite HOPE stations are established for people who live so far away that they cannot attend the Center regularly. With its starting point in the Center, work is done:
A HOPE Center has five main activities - called lines. Each of these lines has 20-25 activities. 1. Contact, Training and Education Here is a brief description of each line: Here one can make contact with people and organizations. Here one can get information from books, magazines, videos, newsletters, and posters. Courses are held for local leaders, school teachers, social workers, home based care providers, agricultural extension workers, club leaders and peer educators. The courses are both practical and theoretical. They concern HIV and AIDS, testing, home based care, economy, basic counseling, income generating activities, nutrition, agriculture, and more. 2. Health Services This has a double meaning, in that it concerns being HIV positive, and to have a positive approach to life as such, which is the most healthy for people. The courses instruct people about what to eat, about changing their sexual behavior, about social networks, about vitamins and minerals, about growing vegetables, about resting and doing sports. The Health Services cooperate with the local health services to mobilize people to get tested and to get other infectious diseases treated, for example venereal diseases. Special emphasis is placed on preventing the spread of the HIV virus from mother to child through advising pregnant women and young mothers. There are furthermore special programs with an aim to support the children. 3. Practical and Applied Research This also concerns carrying out investigations in the local community which are able to give a hint to current development tendencies. Furthermore, it concerns following the international research in the field of AIDS for the purpose of testing every promising piece of information in practice. 4. Opinion Forming Activities on a National Level
5. Outreach Activities
The School Program involves securing that all schools in the area teach and inform about HIV/AIDS. The Action Program carries out actions. This means information about HIV/AIDS everywhere - at work places, markets, bars, in the rural areas, in the towns. This means actions to distribute and to demonstrate the use of condoms. This means poster campaigns, public theater performances, or the arrangement of mass meetings. The Club Program simply involves starting lots of clubs for people of all ages about all kinds of subjects and activities. The Orphan Support Program involves mobilizing the local forces to take care of the many children without parents, and help them with their education, food, housing, social security and belonging, economic foundation for the future, etc. (This activity has since then received its own main line in the concept, since the number of orphaned children is so great.) The HOPE Center in Ndola - The Pilot Project The HOPE Center was established in rented buildings in October 1996. A cooperation was established with the Ndola Urban District Health Management Team, which is a department of the Ministry of Health. Cooperation was also established with The District AIDS Coordinating Committee, The Tropical Disease Research Center, The Catholic Diocese, The Child Care and Adoption Society, The Tuberculosis Association, and a line of other organizations and individuals. A project leader was employed, Jane Broen Jensen, and the work with raising further financing started, with the result that the center received support from, among others, Project Concern International, who gets their economic resources from USAID. The Center was opened, after a minor reconstruction and refurbishing, by the deputy Minister of Health in Zambia on March 1, 1997. The 1st report, June 1997
June 1997: Project Leader Jane Broen Jensen DAPP, The District Health Management Team and Project Concern International all agree that we need an almost aggressive campaign in order to get people to understand the importance and the advantages of knowing their status, so that they can take the necessary precautions. We have placed the question of "behavior change" at the top of the agenda all over the district." The 2nd Report, December 1997 In October 1997, the second HOPE Center was established in the city of Benguela in southern Angola. This city of trade, with plenty of traffic from the inner Angola and out to the seaport of Lobito, is central in the spread of HIV in this part of the country. The project employed Anneli Barregren as project leader. The AIDS epidemic developed violently in the course of 1997 in Mozambique, and therefore ADPP in Mozambique and the Ministry of Health agreed to start the HOPE Center in Beira. In November 1997, almost one year ahead of the plan, Nicola Ward was employed as the project leader and got started with localizing suitable buildings. Beira lies in central Mozambique, a seaport at the end of the populous Beira corridor, where there is much traffic and the greatest prevalence of AIDS. The 3rd Report, October 1998 The programs in the local communities benefit from the presence of a group of international "Development Instructors" (participants from the Traveling Folk High Schools). They have started 51 HOPE clubs at schools, held courses for school teachers, and are running a long row activities in the weekends for children and youth. The Center is working in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health, the local authorities, and national and international organizations. The HOPE Center in Benguela in Angola is now fully furnished and in function. Seminars, conferences, and meetings have been held in cooperation with the Ministry of Health. There has been an intensive information campaign carried out in the area, with posters, leaflets, radio and TV programs. There have been held three open house arrangements, and courses for teachers, and four HOPE Clubs have been started. Representatives from 23 religious organizations have been trained to carry out a community program for information and prevention of AIDS. The center has employed a doctor who holds consultations and lectures, and who is now in the process of establishing a laboratory. The Center works in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the local authorities. The HOPE Center in Beira moved into its new building in the area of Mataquane on August 1st. HOPE clubs have been started in the provinces of Tete, Manica, and Zambezia. There has been educational materials produced, and courses held for 48 school teachers. Twenty one schools are participating in the school program. The project has written articles and news letters, as well as made weekly radio programs. A nurse has been employed, and a trial program with 20 HIV positive persons has started. The 4th Report, December 1999 In 1999 the HOPE Center in Zambia was chosen by USAID as a model-project, and was on this occasion given its official approval for its department for volunteer counseling and testing. In that connection courses were established for the education of midwives with the intention to make an effort regarding the infection from mother to child. The HOPE Center is now running programs in more than 40 schools in the area, and has even more action groups which carry out actions in the region. The HOPE Center in Angola is facing a different task than the ones in the other countries. As a result of Angola's relative isolation, HIV is not as prevalent there as in the other countries. Therefore the task is to first and foremost spread the information which can prevent the epidemic from developing. The HOPE Center has invested many forces into speeches and lectures, courses, seminars, radio and TV programs, the distribution of brochures, putting up posters, etc. A clinic has been established at the center, which treats common infectious diseases. There are plans to start testing at the end of 1999. The HOPE Center in Beira in Mozambique does not yet have testing facilities - they exist in only a few places in Mozambique. Courses and counseling take place for people from the whole area. The project has educational programs in eighteen schools and eleven work places. There are local groups in four neighborhoods of the city, and 15 youth clubs are running. More than 10,000 condoms have been distributed. The HOPE Center in Bindura in Zimbabwe was started at the end of 1998 - and thereby completes the four HOPE Centers included in the grant. Zimbabwe is one of the countries in Southern Africa with the highest prevalence of AIDS, and the Center has immediately gained importance. In the short time the Center has existed, it has entered into a close cooperation with a number of authorities and organizations. SIDA (The Swedish International Development Agency) has granted funds to the project. An agreement has been made with the national AIDS council about running the first voluntary counseling and testing Center in the province. HOPE in Zimbabwe has entered into an agreement with Population Services International about technical and financial support towards running the Center. Three HOPE Satellite Stations have been established. Local groups are working with education, home based care, and the production of vegetables for sick people and orphaned children. The Final Report, December 2000 In its extensive report, Humana People to People describes the many concrete results which have been achieved through this project. It is obvious that people are prepared to do what they can in order to stop the spread of the epidemic. It is also of great importance that the HOPE model has such a wide spectrum of activities, because then EVERYBODY can take part. The HOPE Centers contribute to make the fight against AIDS visible, to give it a human face, and to spread HOPE. There is, however, a long way to go still, before this terrible epidemic is brought under control, and thereafter there will be decades of work to take care of the all the consequences it has brought to people - socially, culturally, and economically. The contributors of the Foundation have through this project followed the fight against this human and economic tragedy with engagement and deep admiration for the people who lead it. As will be obvious in the further reading of this book, the board of directors decided to continue the economic support for this important humanitarian work.
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