Four projects dedicated to fighting HIV and
Aids in Africa are in line for the new DoUKCare award. The winner will be
announced in the press and on the UKC website on 11 November
As part of its on-going DoUKCare campaign, UKC has championed the work of
four organisations and projects working on the front-line in Africa during
2005. Over the year, representatives from UKC have met and worked with these
organisations and projects and promoted their work on the UKC website. All
four work to empower people living with HIV and Aids in innovative ways. .
Grassroots Women’s Development Organisation
Uganda
The Grassroots Women’s Development Organisation (GWODEO), founded
in 1993, is a non-governmental organisation tackling the plight of Uganda’s
rural poor in the areas of Mukono, Jinja and Mayuge. In a country where two
million children have lost their mother, or both parents to Aids, every family
in these districts have been affected by the virus. GWODEO works to tackle
the vicious circle of poverty by addressing poor health, illiteracy, gender
inequality and lack of skills and financial support. Without government funding,
they work to promote HIV and Aids awareness and safer sex practices (including
condoms) to cut transmission and reduce stigma. They lobby and advocate for
the rights and well-being of women and vulnerable children and encourage women’s
economic independence. Their main aim is to empower communities through education;
promoting sustainable agricultural practices and increasing access to safe
drinking water and basic sanitation.
MADaboutART South Africa
MADaboutART is a charity with an aim to unite children across the
world in understanding and fighting HIV and Aids through art and education.
It is not their intention to tell, or to teach, but to involve young people.
In this way they go beyond the possible remembering of fact and enter the
learning zone. MADaboutART’s mission is to empower young people through
candid and honest approaches to help them develop sustainable and realistic
life choices. They believe that information is the key to making choices and
it affects our attitude and responses to our own health and our respect for
others and ourselves. Their innovative and interactive programmes equip young
people with practical skills and knowledge about HIV and Aids as well as building
life skills and self-esteem.
MonkeyBiz Bead Project South Africa
MonkeyBiz is a not-for-profit woman’s economic development initiative
that has put HIV and Aids at the heart of their work. The project has revived
the ancient South African art of beading, to help women in low-income areas
train and earn money as bead artists to support their families. The project
also supports a Wellness Centre which provides counselling, healthcare, nutrition
and yoga classes for bead artists living with HIV. The project provides a
safe and confidential environment for women and funds weekly taxi fares to
and from the clinic. In 2000, MonkeyBiz produced a stunning beadwork-illustrated
educational book in English and Xhosa called Positively HIV+ aimed at young
people aged 15-24. Five thousands copies have been distributed through schools
and universities in the Western Cape.
TASO Uganda
The Aids Support Organisation (TASO) was founded as a voluntary NGO in 1987
by Dr Noerine Kaleeba and 15 other health professionals affected by HIV and
Aids. Starting in Mulago, Kampala district, the centre model was eventually
rolled out to seven district towns. TASO also supports hospital-based care
programmes in northern Uganda. It is now one of the biggest organised responses
to the HIV and Aids epidemic in Uganda. TASO provides counselling, early diagnosis
and treatment of opportunistic infections and STIs as part of medical service
that complements the national care system. The organisation promotes living
positively with HIV, personal and community counselling, social support and
training of counsellor and community workers and is engaged in advocacy and
networking. Due to funding constraints it is not yet fully involved in ARV
treatment programmes although TASO clients in Entebbe are taking part in a
Medical Research Council pilot project.
UKC Hero Awards
The National Hero Award 2005
This award recognises the excellent work of UK organisations which strive
to provide services that improve the lives of people with HIV. The winner
will be voted for by the eight Hero Award Nominees and members of the UKC
board. The winner will be announced in the press and on the UKC website on
4 November.
Body Positive North West
Founded
in 1986, Body Positive North West (BPNW) is one of the UK’s oldest HIV
self-help groups.
While many organisations have become increasingly corporate and, many feel,
out of touch with the real needs of the communities they serve, BPNW has resolutely
retained the ethos of an organisation run by and for people living with HIV.
Like most HIV organisations, they have had their share of hard times, not
least earlier this year when the local PCTs withdrew funding. Where some may
have shut up shop, BPNW continue to provide a wide range of services, including
counselling, complementary therapies, advocacy, a gym and nutritious, reasonably-priced
meals in their friendly café. They are the only organisation outside
London to provide a positive self-management programme, a fact that board
member Dr Wassim Malas sees as key to BPNW’s philosophy. “People
need to be involved to rekindle their belief in themselves and enable them
to see a future with them in it,” he says. “We bring our service
users in as active partners in shaping their lives.”
www.bpnw.org.uk
Positive Action South West
Think
of the south west and you think of beautiful countryside and coastlines, but
not necessarily HIV. This large area of mainly rural England is home to an
increasing number of people living with HIV and Positive Action South West
(PASW) is there to support them. Created 20 years ago out of Devon HIV and
Aids Association and AIDSLINE, it provides services in Exeter and Torquay
and outreach services in Barnstable, Plymouth, Taunton and Street. Its small
but dedicated staff is well-supported by a committed team of volunteers and
therapists and they support in excess of 200 clients. Exeter Uni boy Will
Young became a patron after his Pop Idol win in 2003, and his first solo gig
was a fundraiser for the charity.
“We area small organisation, and when it comes to HIV charities I believe
small is beautiful; when you’re working with a smaller client group
you’re able to go that extra mile,” said Peter Taylor, PASW director.
“We’re very unbureaucratic and everybody pitches in to ensure
that we offer hands-on, practical support. We don’t take ourselves too
seriously; we take the people we work with seriously.”
www.pasw.org.uk
Tyddyn Bach Trust
Tucked
away in the hills between Bangor and Conwy is the Tyddyn Bach Trust. Housed
in a beautiful turn of the century property, the Trust has provided thousands
of people living with HIV with much needed respite and support since 1997.
Providing such a haven of tranquillity however is anything but restful for
the Trust itself. Despite offering a unique and much-needed service it receives
no funding whatsoever, and raising the money to remain afloat is a constant
battle. Such adversity did not stop them from winning the Tree of Life Award
(2000) for Best Respite Centre, and Team of the Year (2002). In a world of
denigrated health services where patients are statistics in league tables,
Tyddyn Bach’s steely determination to provide this crucial service is
what has earned them this nomination.
www.tyddynbachtrust.org.uk
Waverley Care
Waverley
Care (WC) was founded in 1989 as a direct response to Scotland’s growing
HIV epidemic which initially occurred among IV drug users. Consequently their
initial work was mainly with heterosexuals, families and children. As the
types of people affected diversified, WC had to manage the difficult task
for forging a community out of a very diverse group of people with little
in common other than their diagnoses.
“As Scotland’s leading HIV charity, WC continues to meet the needs
of a widely diverse group of people living with HIV,” says manager Martha
Baillie. “We have demonstrated our strengths in responding dynamically,
creatively and proactively to an ever-changing epidemic.” Today WC is
the largest HIV organisation in Scotland, providing a wide range of services
including practical and emotional peer support, life skills, training and
information, as well as social respite at Milestone House.
www.waverleycare.org
For more details on the 2005 Hero Awards Call Carl Mills
on 020 7564 2180 or email cmills@ukcoalition.org.
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