HIV community awareness, sensitization and counseling
We mobilize and work with women, youth and children living with HIV to create community awareness on transmission, dangers and impact of the epidemic, coping and positive prevention. This is because many people lack correct information about transmission and treatment, face stigma and discrimination, may fear to go for treatment where it is available in some instances may not even know where to go. In cases where they have the knowledge, they still face the problem of drug stock-outs in the hospitals and health centers.
We conduct voluntary counseling and testing and link those requiring treatment to hospitals and health centers for Mulago, the country’s main referral hospital which is about four kilometers towards the city center, Kawempe and Kawaala Health Centers which are easily accessible.
We also carry out home visits where we offer advice and counseling to families and individuals on how to cope with HIV. Our trained community volunteers move from house to house meeting the families individually, while identifying the prevailing health and general situation of individuals and the homes where they stay, promote personal hygiene, check out the patients’ adherence to treatment and challenges they face in doing so.
The volunteers also check on the coping mechanism of the families and advise them accordingly. They take care of the bedridden, carry out cleaning for the weak that lack caretakers.
We work with young people in drama group to organize entertainment in open places where we sensitise and educate the community about domestic violence, youth sexual reproductive health HIV prevention and coping.
The group mostly comprises of former sex workers and drug addicts who have denounced the bad practices and generate income whenever hired to perform at functions. We have also trained the former sex workers in handcraft, knitting and tailoring and provided them with income to start small scale businesses.
Through the above activities, we have been encouraging people living with HIV to open up and seek treatment. We have also been able to provide information to those that are not sick about care, support and among individuals, families and the community and more people are now seeking for the treatment and taking proper care of the sick.
Through peer to peer education, music dance and drama we have mobilized and sensitized youth about the sexual reproductive health and rights. This has led to many youth abandoning risky behaviors and being assertive about their rights.
