May
27

2015
By

VST BENEFICIARIES RECEIVED EQUIPMENT WORTH $4600

Category: News 2015 Tags: , Ministry of Youth Development; Indeginization and Empowerment, , Leave a Comment

Recently,with support from Swiss AIDS Care International(SACI), Africaid Zvandiri Vocational Skills Training Program (VST) handed over equipment worth $4 600 to the program beneficiaries at Zvandiri Centre in Avondale,Harare.

The equipment which were handed over include sterilizers,tables,chairs,fabrics,sewing machines,hair clippers,mirrors among others.

Addressing adolescents and young people who were present,the Country Director for Newlands Clinic Matthias Widmaier encouraged the beneficiaries to utilize the equipment they were given so that they will bring change in the entrepreneurship field.

Mercy (not her real name) said she is happy to have something she can use to deliver what she was taught before by Africaid Zvandiri and other partners.

Africaid Zvandiri Founder and Executive Director Nicola Willis handing over a sewing machine to the Vocational Skills Training Beneficiary with the Vocational Skills Training Tonderai Rupiya.

Africaid Zvandiri Founder and Executive Director Nicola Willis handing over a sewing machine to the Vocational Skills Training Beneficiary with the Vocational Skills Training Officer Tonderai Rupiya.

“For me to have a sewing machine was just a dream and l never knew that one day the dream will manifest,l was trained by Africaid Zvandiri on livelihoods but the major challenge was to own the equipment which l have to use but l want to thank our funders and Africaid for making sure that adolescents and young people living with HIV have something they can lean on in terms of employment” said Mercy,a VST beneficiary.

In an effort to improve the socio-economic status of young people living with HIV, Africaid continues to offer vocational skills training and mentorship. This has been made possible through financial and technical support from Swiss AIDS Care International (SACI) in collaboration with Newlands Clinic. The project is a response to the critical need to assist young people living with HIV to secure gainful employment and an income to support themselves both now and in the future. The intervention targets young people with minimal academic qualifications.

May
21

2015
By

JUNIOR PARLIAMENTARIANS & AFRICAID IN WAR AGAINST HIV STIGMA IN SCHOOLS.

Category: Uncategorized 1 Comment

HARARE- The Ministry of Youth Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment in collaboration with the 2014-2015 Junior Member of Parliament for Budiriro Constituency Honourable Evans Rwambiwa invited Africaid Zvandiri to present at an awareness campaign on sexual immorality and early child marriages targeting adolescents and young people in school.

Junior Member of Parliament for Budiriro Constituency Honourable Evans Rwambiwa (Left),Maximina Jokonya Africaid Zvandiri Provincial Mentor(centre) and Chairperson for the Portfolio of Health and Child Care Honourable Tariro Mutawarira at Budiriro 1 High School,Harare,Zimbabwe

Junior Member of Parliament for Budiriro Constituency Honourable Evans Rwambiwa (Left),Maximina Jokonya Africaid Zvandiri Provincial Mentor(centre) and Chairperson for the Portfolio of Health and Child Care Honourable Tariro Mutawarira (Right) at Budiriro 1 High School,Harare,Zimbabwe

Africaid-Zvandiri Community Adolescent Treatment Supporter(CATS) presented on HIV related stigma in schools and this was also a golden platform for the young people in schools to know about the “soldier game” a learning tool which is used to show the importance of adhering well to medication by the CATS.

Adressing hundreds of students at Budiriro 1 High School, the guest of Honour, Chairperson for the Portfolio of Health and Child Care Honourable Tariro Mutawarira said adolescents and young people living with HIV should not hide their feelings, they should feel free since they attend support groups which are being coordinated by Africaid.

2014-2015 Honourable Members of the Junior Parliament for HWATA Constituency.

2014-2015 Honourable Members of the Junior Parliament for HWATA Constituency.

“Although adolescents and young people living with HIV are facing stigma and discrimination, those stigmatizing them are going to be equipped with HIV related information since guidance and counselling lessons are going to be revived in schools as soon as the new curriculum is in all schools” said Honourable Tariro Mutawarira.

Under the same blanket, recently, Africaid Zvandiri was also invited to present on HIV related Stigma to HIV & AIDS Club pupils at a primary school which is located about 22 kilometres from the Zvandiri House after one of our support group members faced stigma within a school set up.

“Stigma remains the single most important barrier to public action. It is a main reason why too many people are afraid to see a doctor to determine whether they have the disease, or to seek treatment if so. It helps make AIDS the silent killer, because people fear the social disgrace of speaking about it, or taking easily available precautions. Stigma is the chief reason why the AIDS epidemic continues to devastate societies around the world” said the UN Secretary- General Ban Ki Moon.

HIV related Stigma is a process of discrediting an individual on the basis of known or suspected HIV status, the process entails attaching a negative label and devaluing of a person by another and the label may be based on a partial truth or completely false information.

The effects of stigma include: reluctant to access HIV testing, treatment and care, complicate decisions about HIV disclosure and ART leading to early deaths. Makes it difficult for children, adolescents and young people to come to terms and manage illness / HIV status.

May
4

2015
By

“CATS, UNIQUE EXAMPLE OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION”: INTERNATIONAL HIV/AIDS ALLIANCE SENIOR ADVISER.

Category: News 2015 Tags: , HIV/AIDS Alliance, Ministry of Health and Child Care, , UNFPA Zimbabwe, , Young People's Network on Sexual ReproductIve Health HIV and AIDS Leave a Comment

HARARE-The International HIV/AIDS Alliance Senior Adviser for Children and Adolescents Kate Iorpenda said the Community Adolescents Treatment Supporters (CATS) model is a unique example of youth participation especially in HIV programming worldwide.

The African Youth Charter Article 11 stipulates that every young person shall have the right to participate in all spheres of society.

“It has been an amazing week to see the reality of what l have heard about for a long time. l have learnt an incredible amount of things and this is a very unique example of youth participation in action at different levels within the Africaid’s structure through the Community Adolescents Treatment Supporters (CATS).” said Kate Iorpenda,a Senior Adviser for Children and Adolescents at International HIV/AIDS Alliance.

OSSA SRH Advisor,Frehiwot Abebe (Left). Senior Adviser for Children and Adolescents at International HIV/AIDS Alliance,Kate Iorpenda(Center) and the Regional Adviser Africa on the Link Up Programme,Georgina Casewell (Right) at Africaid Zvandiri House in Harare,Zimbabwe

OSSA SRH Advisor,Frehiwot Abebe (Left). Senior Adviser for Children and Adolescents at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance,Kate Iorpenda(Center) and the Regional Africa Adviser for the Link Up Programme,Georgina Casewell (Right) at Africaid Zvandiri House in Harare,Zimbabwe

In an interview with our own correspondent, Kate heralds that it was amazing to see young people in action at different levels having reporters, advocates and many adolescents working on the group in an attempt to create an enabling environment for young people living with HIV in Zimbabwe.

Frehiwot Abebe, Sexual Reproductive Health Adviser at the Organisation for Social Service for AIDS (OSSA) in Ethiopia postulated that she had a fruitful time at Zvandiri,she learnt different interventions at practical level and in many countries she visited so far she have not yet come across an organisation which operate like Africaid Zvandiri.

“I was pleased with the way you capture data and l had a pleasant time with the advocates and they are the ones who spearhead the Zvandiri projects at all levels. In Ethiopia adolescents and young people are not free to talk about their HIV status if you talk about SRH,HIV & AIDS the majority of them they start to cry but here at Africaid Zvandiri adolescents and young people are free to share their experiences” said Frehiwot Abebe, OSSA SRH Adviser.

“When we had a discussion with the adolescents and young people who are actively participating in the Vocational Skills Training Program,they share with us about their personal experience, this is a clear sense of a high goal and it inspired me a lot.

“One of the key things l learnt was from the vocational skills training especially around linking the course to the business.l have a vision of seeing these adolescents and young people receiving grants to start businesses. It sounds logical but this does not happen easily.” said Georgina Casewell, the Regional Africa Adviser for the Link Up Programme.

Community Adolescent Treatment Supporters (CATS) have been trained and mentored since 2009 to provide community based adherence monitoring and counselling for their HIV Positive Peers. This training was made possible through the Ministry of Health and Child Care. A team of 35 HIV positive adolescents provide daily support for their HIV positive peers and this has proved to be an extremely powerful approach for supporting adolescents to develop counselling skills and experience, five of the original team members have moved on to further their education including nursing, dental nursing and social work.

The CATS have become the foundation of the Zvandiri Model. They really are setting the standard for the provision of appropriate, accessible, sustainable prevention, treatment, care and support services. Working within their own communities, they are creating a safety net with which their HIV peers can be supported through HIV testing and counselling, disclosure, starting treatment on ARVs, and difficulties with adherence, stigma and discrimination and relationship challenges. They are doing phenomenal work and strengthening the capacity of local clinics.