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

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.

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.