HIV and Care Work-Kwakwati community home based care

A man called Mr. Koto at Amber gate village was having TB. – He took medication properly under our supervision/monitoring and after six months he was cured – He also agree to be our ambassador when we host a TB campaign whereby he told all the community available on that campaign that TB is curable. Everywhere we host a campaign he is the one sharing his journey from the beginning to the end until to date. “”It was not easy, he always says but through Kwakwati Home Based Care” I thank God to have met them in my area.

Context        

Kwakwati community home based care was established in 2002 as LETSEMA. With a number of 36 and the group was decreased due to lack of funds. It was registered with social development and our ref no is 047-715. The group was established because of high rate of HIV/AIDS, TB, Teenage pregnancies, Orphan and vulnerable children, chronic diseases and drug abusers. Also high rate of unemployment.

We decided to form this group to assist our community through their homes monitoring their treatments, refer them to various stakeholders like social workers, clinics, hospital, SASSA, Home affairs and to all possible stakeholders to be helped. Giving health education at school, assessing older persons at their homes and encouraging them to establishing the food gardens at their homes for healthy food.

Key Actions 

Conduct door-to-door campaigns tracking for unregistered patients and refer them to the clinics and hospitals to get medication. Giving health education about HIV/AIDS encouraging the community to know their status and get medication as early as possible. Distribution of condoms to high transmission areas like bar lounges and cafes. Conducting door-to-door campaigns on TB collecting sputum from the community for tracking TB suspects. After their sputum was tested positive we take care of them as DOTS Direct observed treatment support0) monitoring their treatment until six months and TB be cured.

Give heath education at school about teenage pregnancies, condom demonstration, contraceptives and HIV/AIDS together with TB. We encourage the leaners to abstain from sex or use condoms. Identify orphans and vulnerable children and keep them to our two satellite drop-in-centres at Mamehlabe and Kraztplaas villages to avoid abuses, streets kids, human trafficking and alcohol or drug abuses. We help them with after school programs like home works, Give them proper and healthy meals. Have a program for youth assisting them with computer knowledge. We also have program for environmental hygiene cleaning pampers from our environment and destroying them.

Partners       

We have partnership with department of health where we get patients and refer them. Collaborated with department of Social development where we submit the narrative report annually and register our organization. Capricorn district that offers us the accommodation for meetings and gives us chance with gender links and the funders.

Department of health also allocate funds for our organizations to operate. National Lottery commission that gives us the funds. Linked to SA police station which assist our organization when visiting the schools. We work with the Headman of our local communities where we get the letters for operation and gives our organization time to communicate with our communities.

Strategies    

Kwakwati community home based care established the other organizations like Ntshirwele Drop-in-centre, Diphuthantsheng drop-in-centres, Leokeng Home Based Care since 2009. Because of lack of funding, we took this organization to our centre to become one big organization so that we can be able to apply for different funds. We work with all the stakeholders of the community Headman, Priests, Traditional Healers and teachers.

We are now working with the Limpopo coalition so the we can be able to apply for funding from outside countries. When we apply as coalition, the application is more impressive to the funders and will help many organizations.

Challenges  

We have challenge of not having our own building for office, hall, and space for teaching our OVC and youth the computer knowledge. We want to have a very big greenery project for sustainability plan for our organization. Our organization would like to have the internet café at our village as an income generating project.

Like to have our own yard where we can be with our older persons to give them massages, health education and take care of them with the OVCs. Now we have challenge of funds because the department is no longer funding the organizations. We like to establish this income generating projects as our sustainability plan. Like to have more funders to establish them.

Immediate results and next steps

We will ask more donors to build our own building. To have an internet café as sustainability plan. Resources needed, Buildings as we are renting an old two-roomed house. Enough space or Hall to host /conduct our awareness campaigns because we always hire some small tents

More campaigns to teach our patients or beneficiaries about diseases, infection control, environmental and personal hygiene, like to have a big greenery for sustainability plan. Like to have internet café for incoming generating project and our advantage is that we are living in rural areas where we do not have any of this projects. They will benefit us, youth and the community at large.

Long term Impact

We compile monthly reports reporting about our clients. Report on the achievements and successes we made for the month and these reports are submitted to the donor or funders. We also compile quarterly and annually reports which are also submitted to our donors and funders. Every single cent received by the organization is monitored and recorded by the financial manager. The funds are used properly according to the allocated budget given by the funders or donors. Financial reports also are compiled on monthly, quarterly and annually and submitted to the funders/donors. In case of National Lottery, reports are submitted on six months and annually. Our financial year ended every march each year and in this period, all books recording funds are taken to the registered Chattered accountants to audit our books. We were funded since 2007 and we got unqualified audit opinion. This shows that our organization has proper accountability of funds

Learning and how this will be Application

Two women trained for project management and financial management

– 1 trained for HIV/AIDS and Counselling

– 2 trained for TB

– 23 trained for Drug abuse

– 10 trained for Auxiliary

– 10 trained for Re-engineering

– 59 trained for Public Administration from community and facilitator was our finance manager Nkawane Edwinah

One trained for Infection control

Trained for management NQF level 4, Financial management NQF level 4 we know how to compile financials, budget , monitor all incoming and outgoing funds and also taking our financial records to auditors and every year we got unqualified audit opinion this shows that we have proper accountability of funds.