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Description
Description
South Africa is home to the largest HIV epidemic, with 5.6 million people living with HIV. The problem is particularly bad in the rural Eastern Cape, where access to education and health resources are limited.
The HIV Counsellor project strives to provide HIV awareness, education and support to patients living with HIV and those who are at high risk. TransCape has four ways in which we tackle the HIV crisis in Nyandeni’s rural villages.
Development Challenge
Development Challenge
The development challenges this project strives to address are: lack of access to health facilities; lack of access to health education, awareness and support; a cultural lapse leaving youth unsure about appropriate safe sexual behaviour and people who are bedridden with no one to take care of them; HIV/AIDS stigma preventing people to test; no support for people living with HIV/AIDS; lack of health and reproductive education in local public schools
Project Aim
Project Aim
The aim of this project is to provide everyone living in lower Ngqeleni district with access to health education, awareness and support; to motivate and support people to test; to establish and maintain HIV/AIDS support groups for those living with HIV/AIDS; To work with local public school in providing health and reproductive education to the youth; to work with local home-based care groups to take care of bedridden, frail and elderly and orphans; to work with local clinics to provide counselling and testing to people of the community; to work with support groups to break down stigma
Clinic Counselling
Clinic Counselling
TransCape offers group and individual counselling to patients at the clinic, and answers questions about HIV/AIDS transmission, treatment, disclosure, sexually transmitted infections, and tuberculosis. An HIV test can be done at the clinic with TransCape offering pre- and post-counselling.
Home visits
Home visits
In the area that TransCape serves, many people live in isolated villages without access to health information or clinics. Our counsellor visits households in deep rural areas that are difficult to reach to bring the people HIV education and counselling. The program encourages people to know their status.
School assemblies
School assemblies
Every year, TransCape selects four schools to visit once a month throughout the year. At these monthly assemblies, our counsellors educate the students about HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy, contraceptives, and drug and alcohol abuse. Because these topics are culturally taboo in most households, students are usually excited to have the opportunity to discuss these issues and ask questions. At the end of the year, all four schools come together to do performances about the information they received from the program. The students teach each other through singing, dancing, drama, and poetry reading.
Community Awareness Days
Community Awareness Days
Every month, TransCape’s counsellors identify an area where there is a need for a community awareness day. Counsellors tailor the information specifically to the community and facilitate group discussions as well as offering private counselling. These events are held at central venues in the community and also provide the participants with resources, such as pamphlets and contraception.
Project Dynamic Info
Project Dynamic Info
Project Images
Project Images
Beneficiaries
Beneficiaries
The Xhosa people living in rural Eastern Cape in many ways still live according to the traditional Xhosa culture. Their land is governed by chiefs and each family are allocated a 50m by 50m land to build their homestead. The homestead consists of a few rondavels and one square house with a few rooms. Houses are built with clay and bricks and roofs are mainly thatch. People share communal land to plant maize and graze livestock.
Municipal, health and educational infrastructure are scarce and people have to walk many miles to access these services. Homesteads have pit toilets, no running water or electricity.
The beneficiaries of this project are the whole population of lower Ngqeleni District, school students, people visiting clinics, people who are bedridden with illness and on permanent medication and people living with HIV/AIDS.
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Reports and Proposals
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