SWAK implements programmes
aimed at empowering women and girls to reduce
their vulnerability to HIV infection and mitigate
the impact of HIV/AIDS on their lives. SWAK
has made considerable achievements through implementation
of these programmes. A summary of the key achievements
of SWAK is outlined below:
1.
Family economic empowerment
Women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS arises
out of a combination of factors which include
poverty, unequal access to basic needs and resources.
Their economic vulnerability further worsens
the situation. Women might be forced to exchange
sex for money, favours and even survival. SWAK's
Income Generating Activities Credit Programme
assists women to integrate income generating
activities with HIV/AIDS prevention, care and
support. The project has enabled people infected
and affected by HIV/AIDS access credit facilities
to initiate small-scale businesses.
2.
Gender and HIV/AIDS
The SWAK Male Initiative aims to foster greater
awareness of the relationship between men’s
behaviour and HIV and AIDS, as well as stimulate
public debate on the issues of men vis-à-vis
the pandemic. The initiative encourages men
to adopt safer sex, raises awareness on the
social, economic, legal and political obstacles
that increase women’s vulnerability and
also targets also policy makers and media personnel.
Through this programme SWAK has;
• Sensitised 59 male opinion leaders
and policy makers on the role of men in prevention
of mother to child transmission of HIV thus
helping reach over 3500 young men and women.
• Supported over 70 organisations to integrate
men and HIV interventions through needs assessment,
training and information dissemination.
• Worked closely with over 50 representatives
from print, electronic and folk media on effective
methods of disseminating information and stimulating
widespread debate on issues of men and HIV/AIDS.
3.
Psychosocial support
Through the Child counselling programme, SWAK
provides training in Systemic Child Counselling
in the context of HIV/AIDS. In collaboration
with CONNECT Zimbabwe Institute of Systemic
Therapy (CONNECT ZIST), SWAK has trained a pool
of 30 Trainer of Trainer (TOT) child counsellors
drawn from all the eight SWAK branches. These
TOTs have been supported to provide knowledge
and skills on Systemic Child Counselling to
over 400 child counsellors. This team of counsellors
has been able to offer counselling to over 4,000
children in distress. In addition, this initiative
has facilitated the formation of 10 children’s
clubs with a total membership of 1500 children
both girls and boys aged between 5 to 18 years.
4.
Succession planning
The Memory Book Project is one of the major
projects that SWAK is very well known for. Through
the project parents living with HIV/AIDS acquire
knowledge and skills in developing supportive
strategies to help children affected cope with
the effects of AIDS. To date SWAK has directly
trained 901 PLWHA in eight provinces with over
25000 people benefiting indirectly. With support
from FHI/USAID, SWAK has developed a training
manual and is in the process of empowering more
PLWHA as trainers.
5.
Protection of human and legal rights
The SWAK Paralegal program, established in 2002,
has come a long way in facilitating members’
access to professional services to address legal
issues. The initial part of the program involves
training paralegals among SWAK members, local
community, religious and civic leaders, and
professionals amongst other stake holders on
key issues of family law and other legal issues
facing PLWHA and their children. A total 450
paralegals in the eight regional branches have
been trained.
The trainees are empowered
to identify issues that may require legal redress
among both infected and affected persons in
their communities and refer them for the necessary
assistance. Through the implementation of the
project it has clearly come out that a majority
of people do not know their legal rights and
even when they do, they do not have any idea
on where to start or the means to initiate the
process.
6.
Reduction of AIDS related stigma
In line with the GIPA (Greater Involvement of
People living with AIDS) principles, the SWAK
Ambassadors of Hope programme aims to empower
PLWHA, known as the Ambassadors of Hope, to
go public about their HIV status. This is in
order to challenge negative perceptions that
promote stigma and discrimination. This programme
emerged out of the need to build the capacity
of SWAK’s Post Test Clubs and Support
Group members to initiate, lead and support
advocacy intended to reduce HIV/AIDS related
stigma and discrimination. So far, SWAK has
helped initiate a total of 14 Post Test Clubs
and 20 Support Groups with a total active membership
of 308 and 900 respectively.
The Ambassadors of
Hope Programme first milestone was a three week
Trainer of Trainer workshop conducted in July
2003 which benefited 24 SWAK members. By March
2004, these TOTs had been able to share their
knowledge and skills with more than 60 PLWHA
who are now actively engaged in extensive community
outreach activities. Primarily, the Ambassadors
of Hope have been encouraging other PLWHA to
share the reality of living with HIV/AIDS and
to challenge misconceptions on who can be and
cannot be infected to reduce the distance between
those with and without the virus.
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