Team PATA

Clinic Projects

Summary of the first Lesotho PATA meeting held in the MOH 26/6/09

Click here to read the summary

Pedaling for Peddie (April 2010)

'Pedaling for Peddie' is a 1000 km fund-raising bicycle tour linking the Kidzpositive Family Fund in Cape Town and the Keiskamma Trust in the Eastern Cape Province. We are proud to be working with Keiskamma Clinic (based in Hamburg near the town of Peddie), a PATA network clinic in this region.

This tour results from the shared goals of raising support for daily needs of children and families affected by HIV and AIDS and helping the Keiskamma Trust maintain and improve its health care project in Peddie. The bicycle tour will begin in the last week of April this year, from Hamburg in the Eastern Cape Province to Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. A team of 6 riders will take part, representing the United Church of Camps Bay, Kidzpositive and other supporting organisations. During the day, team members will visit treatment centres and during overnight stops they will give talks and slide show presentations.

To learn more, please visit both non-profits organizations' websites: www.kidzpositive.org and www.keiskamma.org

Village Health Worker Project

Kidzpositive, the Keiskamma Trust and Partners in Health Working Together.

The Keiskamma Trust has developed the Village Health Worker (VHW) Project in order to address the problem of decentralization of health care in rural areas. Health Care workers have been trained and deployed in teams of two (2) in 20 of the 119 villages in the Peddie district.

Partners In Health run similar programmes in Haiti and Rwanda, calling the health workers "accompagnateurs." With the PIH initiative as framework and the current momentum in Peddie, Dr Sara Stulac of Partners in Health, Dr Carol Baker and Annette Woudstra of the Keiskamma Trust have developed job descriptions for Village Health Care Workers and a strategy to facilitate implementation of the VHW Project throughout Peddie. The over-arching goal of the project is to have Village Health Workers in all 119 of the district's hill-top villages. Other goals include a simple patient record system, a reliable communication network between workers and adequate transport resources.

The implementation strategy focuses on recruitment and training for the health workers and integrating Keiskamma Trust VHWs with existing public health services and resources. Initially, a number of health workers – including some currently in government-funded positions - will be trained to become trainers of VHWs.

The development of this project has been co-funded by Kidzpositive in a fruitful partnership with the Keiskamma Trust and Partners in Health. The Keiskamma Trust is a remarkably creative NGO. Its Keiskamma Art Project and the Keiskamma Music Academy are truly innovative and deservedly successful.

Income-generating Projects

Kidzpositive Beadwork Project

From beaded flags and logos to bookmarks, conference name holders, glasses strings, keyrings, pens and more, the Positive Beadwork Project produces beautiful customised beadwork and provides income for over one hundred HIV/AIDS affected women.

Every order gives the mothers an opportunity to generate income to support their families and regain a sense of dignity and pride. Kidzpositive buys products as they are completed. The Beadwork Project currently has over 100 mothers making money through it. The Project is purely a job creation enterprise with up to 80% of the purchase price going directly to the mothers. The Project offers a possible model for a facilitated self-help industry to support for the daily needs of HIV/AIDS affected families in the wider community. Attempts to link with similar projects and to develop new sites have been begun. Our Schools Initiative encourages awareness among learners through their involvement in selling our products and a special label links the school to the project.

Factbox

• Mothers can earn between R100 and R200 per week.
• Total earnings by members June 2002 to January 2006 : Just under R2m
• Largest single order: 10 000 AIDS pins
• Most challenging order: 5000 flags of 33 different countries for the Commonwealth Games
• Stars of Hope made in 2006: 3 803
• Our wish list: A steady stream of orders. Each and every one is valuable to us - as small as 15 items or as large as 5000!

The beadworkers are skilled in the use of the beadloom to produce beaded flags, AIDS ribbons and a variety of other designs, including company or conference logos, keyring tabs, bookmarks, tie wristbands.Other products include beaded pens, and beadstrings for use as glasses holders, or to hold conference name tags. Christmas products include the Star of Hope, mini angels and Christmas pins. Products can be created to suit customers requirements, see our products pages for more information.

The project is part of the Kidzpositive Family Fund, which is dedicated to improving the health of HIV-positive children in Southern Africa. Visit www.kidzpositive.org for more information.

Keiskamma Artwork and Tapestry

The Keiskamma Trust

It is our guiding principle that the battle against HIV/AIDS in rural South Africa cannot be won by medical intervention alone.

The Keiskamma Trust exists to foster hope and health as well as pride and self respect amongst the people living by the Keiskamma River, a desperately poor area of the Eastern Cape. By combining Aids treatment, Art Projects and Education Initiatives the Trust has been able to take the fight against Poverty and HIV/AIDS to the very heart of the community.

The Keiskamma Art Project

This community initiative provides many people from Hamburg and neighbouring villages with the skills, materials and training to create beautiful artworks. In so doing, people grow respect for themselves and generate vital incomes in an area of limited employment opportunities. The Keiskamma Art Project's most famous artworks to date are the Keiskamma Altarpiece and the Keiskamma Tapestry. Both large artworks carry the message of hope in the fight against HIV/AIDS to audiences around the world.

http://www.keiskamma.org

Connaught clinic, Zimbabwe: Disclosure game

The Soldier Game' (Beaded disclosure kits from Connaught Clinic in Zimbabwe)

At the 2007 PATA conference in Swaziland, the Connaught team wowed other participants with their creative beaded disclosure kits called 'The Soldier Game'. The game can be used to explain to children (over the age of 6, as well as to caregivers) how the virus works and why it is important to take their medicines regularly.

The idea was first conceived in 2004 by Nicola Willis, paediatric nurse and founder of AFRICAID. At the moment, the sets are made by local artists, but Connaught clinic plans to train teenagers involved with the clinic to make them and to turn the venture into an income generating project.

Nursing sister Rita Phillip from the clinic thanked Kidzpositive Beadwork Project (Cape Town) for donating beads they could work with. The game can be purchased either directly from Connaught clinic or through the Kidzpositive Beadwork Project at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.

'The Soldier Game' costs US $50.00 (this excludes packaging and postage) and can be ordered from beads@kidzpositive.org. The game includes soldiers (CD4 cells), red balls (viruses), dark balls (resistant viruses), stars (the different ARV drugs) and the T-shape (opportunistic infections). All proceeds from the beadwork will go directly to the Connaught clinic.

Connaught Clinic is a family Care Centre situated about 7 km from Harare City Centre. There are currently 1572 patients enrolled. According to Rita Phillip, their biggest challenges are transport, food, school fees, books, stationery and school uniforms. At the moment, excitement is mounting within the Connaught team as a new clinic is being built so that they can expand, and they hope to move in at the end of May. Good luck!