Catholic Relief Services Outline Funding Needs in Malawi

Catholic Relief Service members recently met with St. Mel parishioners at the home of Pia and Anselm Varni. Parishioners interested in contributing to specific Malawi projects should contact Norm Roberts through the Justice and Peace Council.

Integrated HIV/AIDS Care and Food Security
Dedza, Malawi – Phase II
STATEMENT OF NEED

Approximately 28.5 million Sub-Saharan Africans - adults and children - are now living with AIDS. The vast majority have little or no access to basic healthcare services. Family members are often too afraid to care for those who are stricken by “the sickness,” due to social stigma and a lack of accurate information. What’s more, the accelerated spread of AIDS across Sub-Saharan Africa is breaking down the fabric of communities, taking the strongest members of a community as well as the youngest and most vulnerable. The results are a staggering loss of life, a prevailing sense of fear and helplessness, and an overwhelming burden on surviving members of African communities.

As the official overseas relief and development agency of the American Catholic community, Catholic Relief Services has responded to the AIDS crisis in Africa with compassion and dedication. Through field offices in Malawi, CRS works to provide community-based home healthcare, counseling and support to individuals and families living with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS. At the same time, they are working with local partners to offer training and to build capacity within communities to better care for their sick. Using this community-centered approach, CRS is able to bring palliative care, hope and comfort to those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

CADECOM DEDZA INTEGRATED HIV/AIDS CARE & SUPPORT
Phase II

Number of Beneficiaries: 6,000 people benefit directly, 200,000 indirectly
Project Duration: January 2005 to September 2008
Project Cost: Approximately $110,000 per year

HIV and AIDS prevalence rates among adults living in the diocese of Dedza, Malawi are roughly 15 percent of the total population, and sadly, these rates have been increasing, especially among young pregnant women. Statistics in the year 2000 showed that nearly 45,000 people in the Diocese are HIV positive. New AIDS cases which were about two thousand people in 1998, rose to nearly five thousand in the year 2000, 75% of whom have already died. This state of affairs has left behind an overwhelming orphan situation of nearly eight thousand children below the age of 15 years who have lost their mother or both parents to HIV/AIDS. Most of these orphans have lost the opportunity for education. They turn into destitutes, street children and a source of child labor.

In response, CRS is working with the diocese and with CADECOM, the Catholic Development Commission in Malawi, to offer community-based home care, counseling and support for the sick and their families, care for orphans, as well as life skills and vocational training for young people living in at-risk communities.

The project components provides care and support of the chronically ill and people living with AIDS (PLWAs), the most needy affected (orphans and widows), and prevention targeted particularly at the youth through capacity building in the local communities, project staff and stakeholders. It also provides technical and material assistance to the communities in generally and the direct beneficiaries in particular. At the community level the key front line workers are the volunteers.

CRS's primary targets for the second phase of this HBC program are as follows:

• Provide community-based home healthcare, education and support services to at least 25% of those members of the Diocesan population who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS;
• Provide care and support services for at least 25% of all locally registered AIDS orphans under the age of 15 years old;
• Offer care and support services for at least 25% of all registered widows under the age of 49 years old who have lost their husbands to AIDS;
• Bring accurate information about HIV/AIDS prevention through behavior modification to at least 90% of all local youths between the ages of 15 and 25.
  

With the compassionate care of trained community volunteers, proper nourishment and treatment for secondary illnesses, in many patients there has been a dramatic improvement in both physical health and emotional outlook. What’s more, trained local community volunteers are able to reach students and other young people with messages of behavior change for AIDS prevention with great success.

Phase I of the Dedza HBC support project ran from 2002 to 2004. During this period the following activities were accomplished:

1. Project implementation team of eight persons was been established.
2. Trained project staff in HIV/AIDS management, life skills, gender and human rights.
3. Sensitized 275 local leaders.
4. Selected and trained 270 volunteers in Training for Transformation and community-based management of HIV/AIDS.
5. Established 27 Community Support Groups. Three in each project area which provide care and support to the affected and infected.
6. Established three voluntary counseling and testing centers.
7. Supported 1,000 0rphans among the most needy with school fees, educational materials, vocational training and IGA capital.
8. Distributed Home Based Care supplies and inputs for care and support of 500 chronically ill persons.
9. Established 1 community–based vocational training center for out-of-school orphans.
10. Organized recreational activities for the youth, i.e. sports competitions for football and netball, choir festivals, drama and traditional dances.

Experts in the healthcare field refer to the “HIV continuum of care,” which describes a patient’s healthcare needs from the first day of diagnosis, to the symptomatic phase, to terminal care. In Malawi, where resources are scarce, CRS is working to build community-based healthcare systems and to thus strengthen local capacity to offer this continuum of care for those who are sick. Through our involvement, and with our support, communities are better equipped to address the physical, psychological, social, economic and spiritual needs of people living with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS.

1. Provision of essential medicines and supplies kit. This is a comprehensive, community-level medical kit designed specifically for use by Home Based Care volunteers. Items include pain killers, oral rehydration tablets, antibiotics, bandages, gloves, and multivitamins. Each kit costs approximately $700 serve and will serve the HBC needs of three villages.
   Target: 90 medical kits
   
2. Supplementary foodstuffs for the most vulnerable consisting of maize flour, pinto beans, and refined vegetable oil. The number of vulnerable persons served with these provisions at present is small while the demand is extremely high. A gift of $500 will allow 10 chronically ill persons to benefit from this food for a period of one year.
   Target: 2,000 vulnerable persons
   
3. Provision of support to vulnerable children (principally girls) for access to education. An additional $5,000 would allow 35 orphans to access four years of secondary education through the provision of school fees, uniforms and educational materials.
   Target: 500 vulnerable children
   
4. Funding of educational block grants to support the equipping and repair of community secondary schools (desks, blackboards, roofs, windows, etc.) in return for guaranteeing free access for targeted vulnerable children in the community over a specific period of time. A typical block grant of $1,000 and would gain access for 50 children for one year.
   Target: 20 schools
   
5. Provision of basic tools for community based vocational training for targeted older children. These are primarily tools to be used in technical training such as for carpentry, tinsmith and sewing depending on the chosen skill and local market. A gift of $10,000 would allow 200 vulnerable children to participate in this program.
   Target: 400 children
   
6. Provision of access to clean water for targeted vulnerable communities. Such interventions can make a tremendous impact on community health as well as on the quality of life of women and girls, typically tasked with spending between 2 to 4 hours every days in obtaining water from distant (1 to 3 Km), open, usually unsafe sources. Actual specific water requirements depend on the conditions within the targeted communities.
   Borehole - $3,750
   Target: 25 Boreholes
   
   Borehole rehabilitation - $750
   Target: 18 Boreholes
   
   Shallow well - $1,400
   Target: 10 Shallow wells