Advocacy, Care and Support

ADVOCACY, CARE AND SUPPORT

FOR

THE AIDS ORPHANS, CLIENTS AND ELDERLY

IN

DABANI PARISH

BY

SHERMAN HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION

P.O.BOX 888, KAMPALA, UGANDA.

PROGRAM DOCUMENT SUMMARY

PROGRAM TITLE:Advocacy, Care and Support for the AIDS Orphans, Clients and Elderly in Dabani Parish.

STARTING DATE:1st September 2012

DURATION:1 year

PROGRAM SPONSOR:Dabani Parish.

AMOUNT REQUESTED FOR:USD 18,441.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:

The AIDS scenario for the start of the 21st Century is frightening. In the early years of the pandemic, the link between “AIDS” and development was not made. AIDS was strictly regarded as a health problem. In the recent years, however, there has been a growing awareness of the development implications of HIV/AIDS. People with this infection are normally in the most productive years of life and its death doesn’t discriminate between the skilled and non – skilled, elite and non – elite. Their loss to the community has grave and far reaching consequences and effect in terms of potential life costs. This situation is leading to serious lack of qualified personnel in various services sectors and reduced capacity to train and educate more for replacement. The reality now is that AIDS has no cure yet.

This situation may further lead to an absolute disaster where the communities have ceased to look at AIDS as a threat equating it to other normal fetal infections. This is the way it is being perceived by the most active sexual groups (youth) today. Expressions like “after all everybody will die”, AIDS came for people not trees”. “I don’t intend to overstay like a tree prepare for timber” and many others is an evidence of society annihilation through ignorance.

Dabani Parish is on “AIDS” fire with family planning precautions not in use, which has seen the burden of taking care of the orphans, even the sick to the elderly who too, are vulnerable.

It is only when the people (youth) are empowered themselves with appropriate knowledge, attitudes and skills for behavioral changes that we will be able to control the spread of HIV/AIDS infections (the elderly taking care of the orphans have to be supported to make the children achieve full potential). Many strategies of intervention are being called for though in this one we intend: -

• To render direct assistance to the orphans in form of scholastic materials and few food items through the elderly burdened by their care.
• To increase advocacy on “AIDS” through Audio and Visual aids within the communities of Dabani Parish and to inaugurate school outreach programs on AIDS/STD infection appropriate and nutrition and others.
• To promote improved nutrition among the AIDS clients orphans as well as guardians caretakers.

1.0INTRODUCTIONS:

This situation may further lead to an absolute disaster where the communities have ceased to look at “AIDS” as a threat equating to any other normal fatal infections. This is evidence of society’s annihilation through ignorance. Dabani Parish is thus on “AIDS” fire with family planning precautions not in use, which has seen the burden of taking care of the orphans, even the sick to the elderly who too, are vulnerable.

It is only when whoever is concerned gets empowered with appropriate knowledge, attitudes and skills for behavioral change that will be able to control the spread of HIV/AIDS infections. A number of strategies of intervention must be called for in order to alleviate this pandemic.

2.0PROBLEM STATEMENT:

During community surveys through home to home visits, we discovered that Dabani Parish in Busia District has over 50 orphans. 75% of which are left to the ultimate care of the elderly who by our local standards are also vulnerable and in dire need. Most of these children are not going to school.

Even with UPE (Universal Primary Education) in place, there are enormous contributions children in rural areas are demanded to make before permitted to study. Lack of basic scholastic materials makes these children look isolated and stigmatized in society, which depresses then the more. They should be helped to renew their hopes other than being to live despondently. This is possible through projects like this one we are envisaging implement.

The education status of these young people in this area is very low as a result of the AIDS pandemic. Most of them are jobless preferring to live luxurious lives and yet resent manual jobs resorting to gambling as a major source of income and bhangi (Marijuana) smoking. This has led to unemployment, redundancy, self – denial where drinking is excessively consumed because of frustrations leading to rampant sexual promiscuity. Many youth are perishing leaving behind helpless orphans to the elderly parents.

Lack of AIDS related activities is another big problem in this area. This patients visited require palliative care and counseling. We appreciate the contribution of Masafu Health Centre for the treatment of HIV clients with “AIDS” related complexes. People facing this stigma need not only medical care but also social spiritual and emotional support.

There has been an influx of active HIV positive sexual workers from the city centre to these peripheral area where they do target young men with small incomes like motorcycle riders, retail traders and students, others end up getting married or concubine by married men. This is a bush fire spread situation where “AIDS” is engulfing the whole community.

During our surveys we discovered that lack of transparency in exposing this infection is causing re – infection and super – infection aggravating the conditions of already HIV positive clients.Where there is an opportunity to disseminate information to the public about dangers of HIV by opinion leaders during burial ceremonies of AIDS victims, it is bristly talked of. This shyness of exposing the causes of death mainly of AIDS” patients have set very destructive precedence in this society especially in a situation where a couple left behind is sexually active.

Poverty has fueled the epidemic in several ways like: -

-Poor feeding which has deprived the sick an opportunity to stay longer and plan for their children.

-Ill – treatment of STD’s culminating in many complications.

-High scale commercialized sex taken as an economic venture among the young girls.

-Inability to access incessant information in the spread and control measure as well as inadequate counseling services.

3.0PROJECT JUSTIFICATION:

AIDS primarily affects youths as well as adults in their economic productive years, i.e., 15 – 45. The illness and death of these economically prime aged adults has resulted not only in low incomes for surviving family members but also in all other consequences of poverty including worsened and reduced investment in future productivity of the survivors.

Our intervention is justifiable in that our communities have know that AIDS has no cure and is 100% fatal and therefore prevention as of now is sole cure. Short of this is an explosion, which will create millions of orphans beyond poor countries countenance. Even if the cure was available now as we hear, with the present lack of government subsidies and absolute poverty levels, it is difficult for our communities to meet the treatment costs. Those who can afford the therapy presently, is just a drop in the ocean. Therefore we want to launch an aggressive information dissemination to cover a wider clientele. This should be constant.

We are going to target civic leaders in the advocacy because they serve the local communities directly. Through the multiplier effect especially in their communities’ development activities, more people would be sensitized and put on alert. Society perception towards the sick and the orphans creates a deeper and wider gap and this has to be covered and reduced. The HIV positive should be encouraged to live positively by getting involved in economic activities for improvement living to avoid degenerating into AIDS state.

The Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme by the government , much as it is appreciated, has lots of loopholes that have to be addressed to provide qualitative education and more support to the orphans. It only caters for four (4) children, ratio of students to teacher being so high, no provision for scholastic materials, feeding and others, which leaves it in a swinging state. It is only tuition provided, which is not more than 3,000/= per child per term equivalent of less than $2.Therefore these orphans in UPE schools will be targeted to provide them more enabling situation for effective competition with others.

4.0PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.

This goal towards the project is to ensure that advocacy target 75% of the people in the community to internalize the dangers of HIV/AIDS and its social and economic impacts on them and to support the orphans to live achieve their fuller potential as useful citizens.

Project Objectives:

a)To render direct assistance to the orphans in form of scholastic materials and improve on their nutrition.

b)To increase advocacy on “AIDS” through Audio/Visual aids within the communities of Dabani Parish and to see the beginning of permanent school outreach programmes related to AIDS pandemic emphasis will be on: -

• Care of people living with AIDS pandemic emphasis will be on: -
• Definition modes of transmission complexes.
• Drug and alcohol abuse.

c)To encourage the HIV positive to absorb and internalize concepts of positive living making the best out of their lives to learn to live as normal as possible. Moral support for the affected is important in order to equip them with the courage and strength needed to be able to support those infected.

5.0PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

The programme will be managed by members who will duly be selected from the Parish Council Executive and Parish community members. Presently, the Health Unite management Committee in function is as follows:

Chairperson:Joseph Kazibwe

(Head of the lay Christians)

Vice Chairperson:Nakimbugwe Immaculate

(For social development)

Secretary General:Lwanga Desire

(Catechist and Parish secretary)

Executive Director:Andrew Ojambo

( Project coordinator)

Youth Representative:Namubiru Rose

Women Representative:Nasta Wafula

Committee Members

1. A member from the Parish Council: Walukagga Augustine.
2. A member from different religious denomination:

(Erima Nicholas (LCI Masainya)

1. Government Representative: Godfrey Erima (LC. III Dabani)

We confirm that once the programme funds are received as planned, the program will successfully be implemented and well managed.

6.0PROJECT ACTIVITIES:

(a)Provision of scholastic materials and food distribution to the guardians and snacks to the orphans. We do feel that support in form of school requirements is a pre-requisite for these children to stay at school without much interference. It is also going to be an incentive for these children to know that they have a helper/comforter:

(b)We are going to invite 50 people for a community workshop and the criteria to be used will be “by the community through participatory planning”

(c)To introduce school out-reach programme starting with 3 schools with room for expansion if facilities allow. These will be DabaniboysPrimary School, DabaniGirsSchool (Dabani) and DabaniGirlsBoardingPrimary School. We shall liaise with head teachers so that each school comes once in a month at the Parish, We are yet to get in touch with the AIDS information center, Uganda AIDS commission, NADIC, and TASO for assistance of relevant materials and publications.

6.0PROGRAMME BENEFICIARIES:

The program has been designed to target directly a minimum of 150 orphans. The caretakers of these Orphans particularly the elderly (127) will also benefit from the same project. We have also been able to identify an average of 51 AIDS clients who will also benefit from the same. Thus a total of over 470 people will directly benefit from this project. In the long term, the wider community will also benefit from the same project.

7.0PROJECT OUTPUT

(a)150 Orphans well counseled, free from stigmatization and ready to compete with others favorably. We feel that that with this renewed hope; it is the beginning of advocacy and awareness among the tender age.

(b)50 community members fully sensitized on the dangers of HIV/AIDS and ready to work as voluntary agents of positive change.

(c)Improved nutrition of orphans and AIDS victims.

(d)Reduce expenditure by the caretakers which will be a saving on their side.

RESOURCE INPUT /PROGRAMME BUDGET

A total budgetary estimate is USD 19,412 out of which 5% totaling to USD 971 will be raised by the community.

ACTIVITY / DETAILED
DESCRIPTION / FREQUENCY / QTY / UNIT COST(USD) / TOTAL
1. Advocacy / - Colored T.V set
- Video and DVD Player / 1
1 / 1
1 / 288.00
160.00 / 288.00
160.00
Sub - Total / 448.00 / 448.00
2. Basic
Materials for orphans / - Uniforms
- Uniforms
- Exercise books
- Pens
- Pencils
- Snacks for Break / 1
1
3
3
3
5 / 100
50
150x2 Dozens
150 x4
150 x4
150 x 4 x9 / 4.00
6.00
1.00
0.16
0.04
0.12 / 400.00
300.00
900.00
288.00
72.00
3,240.00
Sub - Total / 5,200.00
3. Direct clients services / - Venue
- Meals for participants.
- Exercise Books
- Manila papers
- Makers
- Pens
- Flip Charts
- Masking tapes
- Trainers
Allowances / 2 days x 12
2 days x 12 / 1 Hall
56 People
3 Dozens x50
3 Reams
25Packets
7Packets
100 Rolls
30 Rolls
3 x 24 days / 6.00
1.00
1.00
10.00
1.20
3.60
4.00
0.80
8.00 / 144.00
1,344.00
150.00
30.00
30.00
26.00
400.00
24.00
576.00
Sub – Total / 2,724.00
4. Food stuffs to be supplied to AIDS clients and caretaker / - Sugar
- Soya Millet
- Maize Flour
- Beans / 1
1
1
1 / 100x4x 12
100x4x 12
100x4x 12
100x4x 12 / 1.00
0.40
0.24
0.16 / 4,800.00
1,920.00
1,152.00
768.00
Sub – Total / 8,640.00
5.Monitoring / (Out – reach) / 1,400.00
Sub - Total / 1,400.00
6. Transport / 1,000.00
Sub – Total / 1,000.00
GRAND TOTAL / 19,412.00

Financing Plan:Total programme cost: USD19,412.00

Total raised by the community. : USD971.00

Total amount requested for. : USD18,441.00

8.0PROGRAMME FUTURE AUTONOMY

We anticipate starting up and “AIDS’ awareness resource Centre at the ParishHealthCenter where on occasions when the TV and Deck are not being used. We shall have them in the resource center and will be charging some small fee for persons who may want to make use of the facilities. The local community will further be mobilized to raise resources for the availability of simple printed materials and pamphlets that will be made available as source of more information about “AIDS”. We also anticipate that the programme will have maximum growing community participants

9.0MONITORING AND EVALUATION:

The programme will well monitored/revaluated by the elected committee throughout all the implementation processes. As well as the funds required will be available, we don’t foresee any stalling of activities. All financial; programme transactions will be well made, all relevant records in reference to the programme will be well kept and all programme funds put a proper use.