“TITHEMBHENI TSHAMAHANSI” HIV TESTING DRIVE PROJECT
Summary
Members of the “Tithembheni Tshamahansi” (“Trust yourself Tshamahansi”) HIV Testing Drive Project (TTTDP) have seen the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS in Tshamahansi Village and the surrounding area. We recognize that people in the village are unwilling to acknowledge the presence of HIV/AIDS in the community and in their own lives, and therefore do not go to the local clinic to receive the free HIV/AIDS test. We feel that it is vitally important for people to acknowledge that the disease does affect them personally, and to begin talking about HIV/AIDS in the community. We feel that it is important for community members to know their status and become proactive about their own health.
This project aims to address both of these concerns. Throughout a series of events in Tshamahansi Village, TTTDP hopes to educate over 1,000 members of the community and encourage open dialogue about HIV/AIDS, leading up to a month-long HIV-testing drive at the Tshamahansi Clinic.
We intend on pursuing four separate activities to help stimulate dialogue about HIV/AIDS in Tshamahansi Village and motivate people to receive the HIV/AIDS test. These activities are as follows:
Summary
Members of the “Tithembheni Tshamahansi” (“Trust yourself Tshamahansi”) HIV Testing Drive Project (TTTDP) have seen the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS in Tshamahansi Village and the surrounding area. We recognize that people in the village are unwilling to acknowledge the presence of HIV/AIDS in the community and in their own lives, and therefore do not go to the local clinic to receive the free HIV/AIDS test. We feel that it is vitally important for people to acknowledge that the disease does affect them personally, and to begin talking about HIV/AIDS in the community. We feel that it is important for community members to know their status and become proactive about their own health.
This project aims to address both of these concerns. Throughout a series of events in Tshamahansi Village, TTTDP hopes to educate over 1,000 members of the community and encourage open dialogue about HIV/AIDS, leading up to a month-long HIV-testing drive at the Tshamahansi Clinic.
We intend on pursuing four separate activities to help stimulate dialogue about HIV/AIDS in Tshamahansi Village and motivate people to receive the HIV/AIDS test. These activities are as follows:
Women’s Beading Group:
A women’s beading group will create beaded HIV/AIDS pins which will be given to the local clinic and passed out free to anyone who receives the HIV/AIDS test at the Tshamahansi Clinic during the “month-of-testing” drive.
Parade / Kick-Off Event:
On the Saturday before the “month-of-testing” drive, we will have a parade in Tshamahansi Village and a kick-off event to spark interest in the community, provide information about HIV/AIDS and healthy living, and explain the testing drive to the community. This event will also serve as a motivation to the community to receive the free HIV/AIDS test.
“Month-Of-Testing” Drive:
For four (4) weeks, community members will be encouraged to receive the free HIV/AIDS test at the Tshamahansi Clinic. Once they receive their results, they will receive a prize bag that will include a number of gifts, including the beaded pin made by the women’s beading group.
Final Celebration Function:
At the completion of the “month-of-testing” drive, we will hold a large celebration for everyone who received the free test at the clinic during the month. Admission will be reserved to those wearing their beaded pin. This celebration will celebrate their great achievement and bravery, and will include a free meal, games and activities with small prizes, and a raffle with large prizes.
Through the many facets of the project, TTTDP believes that we will reach over 1,000 people in the community, and begin to bring about a culture of open dialogue about HIV/AIDS.
Statement of Need
The focus of our project will be on Tshamahansi Village, although anyone from neighboring Magongoa Village will also be welcome to attend and participate. Tshamahansi Village is located in Mogalakwena Municipality, Waterberg District, Limpopo Province. Tshamahansi is situated 18km north of Mokopane, the nearest town. With a population of 13,393 people living in 2,682 households, Tshamahansi is the biggest village in the Mogalakwena Municipality and among the biggest in the Waterberg District. Almost all people living in Tshamahansi are of the Tsonga and Sotho tribes, with small numbers of others. The primary languages spoken are Xitsonga (91%) and SePedi(8%).
In addition to its large size, Tshamahansi is also a very poor village. According to Census 2001 data, out of all working-age adults, only 21% are employed. The rest are either unemployed (22%) or not economically active (57%). The “best and brightest” usually leave Tshamahansi forever, making futures for themselves in the large cities of the Gauteng Province. Among all adults 20 years of age or older in Tshamahansi, only 44% have completed primary school education or further; the rest either have no schooling or left school before completing primary school. 60% of the population has no monthly income, so a sizable portion of the community receives their income from old-age pension grants and child support grants provided by the government.
Tshamahansi, on the whole, is a fairly “young” community, with 37% of the population under the age of 15, and only 28% over the age of 34. It is telling that the number of children in the village is so high; many parents who move to Gauteng leave their children with their elderly parents. Since the number of elderly people is not very high, many of them are placed in charge of 2, 3, or more of their grandchildren while the children’s parents work in Gauteng. Due to this situation, many youth grow up without a strong parental figure or positive role model. These youth become influenced by negative factors and begin engaging in risky sexual activities at a young age, without thinking about the consequences of their actions. These dangerous practices give HIV/AIDS the opportunity to spread among community members at an alarming rate. Although the disease is spreading in Tshamahansi, people still do not talk about HIV/AIDS or take responsibility for their actions. In this highly at-risk area, TTTDP believes that a large-scale HIV education and testing campaign is vitally important.
Information about HIV/AIDS reaches people primarily through schools (where teachers often have outdated information or unprogressive opinions) and through media like television. Many residents still hold fallacious beliefs about the spread of HIV/AIDS, its effect on the body, the effectiveness of ARVs, and the necessity of the HIV/AIDS test for those at-risk. Even those few who have correct information still engage in risky behaviors; this is especially true of youth. Many youth can recite the causes of HIV/AIDS, the ABCs (“Abstain-Be Faithful-Condomise”), and other information about the disease, but they do not create the link between these concepts and their own lives and behaviors. This PCV trained a group of 14 youth (7 male, 7 female) from the two high schools in Tshamahansi Village between August and November 2006 to be Life Skills Peer Educators. These youths had been singled out by their teachers as the “best of the best,” but many of them lacked vital knowledge and held outdated opinions about HIV/AIDS before the Life Skills Training began. Considering that these were the “best of the best,” the evidence is clear that there is an urgent need for information about HIV/AIDS in Tshamahansi.
To date, large-scale programs and activities have not been developed in the area of HIV/AIDS education in Tshamahansi Village. As a result, myths about the disease circulate in the village, and HIV/AIDS is a topic that is off-limits in most conversation. Most people are unwilling to go to the Tshamahansi Clinic to receive free testing; on average, only 30 to 40 HIV/AIDS tests are conducted in the village each month, and that is the mandatory test that is given to pregnant women. The results of these tests are that about 10 tests per month, or 25% of the results, turn out to be positive.
Most people in the village are unwilling to go to the Tshamahansi Clinic to get tested for a number of reasons. One reason is that many people fear that other people will gossip and spread rumors if they go to the clinic to get tested. Many people are afraid of the test itself; they fear that the needles will be painful and the test will be very difficult to go through. People also worry that others will discover their status, which, if positive, can be very detrimental to the person’s reputation in the village. But most importantly, people are unwilling to get tested because they are afraid they will be positive. A number of people have told me that, “If I find out I am positive, I will die sooner because of the stress of knowing than if I had never found out.”
We believe that being tested for HIV/AIDS is the first step towards acknowledging the disease, as well as a crucial step for those who may be positive to obtain the support they need. Through education and other incentives, we hope to motivate a large number of people to get tested at the local clinic over a period of four (4) weeks. If we can motivate hundreds of people to go in for the test, the risk of rumors spreading throughout the village will be eliminated. Also, through testing, people will gain valuable information about HIV/AIDS and learn about positive life choices that will help them to lead healthier lives. The message of practicing abstinence and, especially, of being faithful to one’s partner will be stressed throughout the entire project. In addition, if people do find out that they are positive, they will be given the medication and support that they need to help them live healthy lives. Finally, if a large number of people know their status in the village, they can serve as ambassadors in the community, espousing the benefits of testing and encouraging others to be tested. This could possibly serve as the stimulus for a dialogue about HIV/AIDS that has never existed in Tshamahansi Village.
Goals and Objectives
Goal
We hope that by increasing the number of people getting tested for HIV/AIDS in Tshamahansi, we will make the process of getting tested for HIV/AIDS a non-threatening, acceptable practice among its residents. We hope that this will inspire a culture of open dialogue about HIV/AIDS in Tshamahansi.
Objectives
1. We will provide 600 – 1000 people in the community with education about HIV/AIDS and healthy living, stressing the importance of abstinence and being faithful to one’s partner.
Through the many facets of the project, TTTDP believes that we will reach over 1,000 people in the community, and begin to bring about a culture of open dialogue about HIV/AIDS.
Statement of Need
The focus of our project will be on Tshamahansi Village, although anyone from neighboring Magongoa Village will also be welcome to attend and participate. Tshamahansi Village is located in Mogalakwena Municipality, Waterberg District, Limpopo Province. Tshamahansi is situated 18km north of Mokopane, the nearest town. With a population of 13,393 people living in 2,682 households, Tshamahansi is the biggest village in the Mogalakwena Municipality and among the biggest in the Waterberg District. Almost all people living in Tshamahansi are of the Tsonga and Sotho tribes, with small numbers of others. The primary languages spoken are Xitsonga (91%) and SePedi(8%).
In addition to its large size, Tshamahansi is also a very poor village. According to Census 2001 data, out of all working-age adults, only 21% are employed. The rest are either unemployed (22%) or not economically active (57%). The “best and brightest” usually leave Tshamahansi forever, making futures for themselves in the large cities of the Gauteng Province. Among all adults 20 years of age or older in Tshamahansi, only 44% have completed primary school education or further; the rest either have no schooling or left school before completing primary school. 60% of the population has no monthly income, so a sizable portion of the community receives their income from old-age pension grants and child support grants provided by the government.
Tshamahansi, on the whole, is a fairly “young” community, with 37% of the population under the age of 15, and only 28% over the age of 34. It is telling that the number of children in the village is so high; many parents who move to Gauteng leave their children with their elderly parents. Since the number of elderly people is not very high, many of them are placed in charge of 2, 3, or more of their grandchildren while the children’s parents work in Gauteng. Due to this situation, many youth grow up without a strong parental figure or positive role model. These youth become influenced by negative factors and begin engaging in risky sexual activities at a young age, without thinking about the consequences of their actions. These dangerous practices give HIV/AIDS the opportunity to spread among community members at an alarming rate. Although the disease is spreading in Tshamahansi, people still do not talk about HIV/AIDS or take responsibility for their actions. In this highly at-risk area, TTTDP believes that a large-scale HIV education and testing campaign is vitally important.
Information about HIV/AIDS reaches people primarily through schools (where teachers often have outdated information or unprogressive opinions) and through media like television. Many residents still hold fallacious beliefs about the spread of HIV/AIDS, its effect on the body, the effectiveness of ARVs, and the necessity of the HIV/AIDS test for those at-risk. Even those few who have correct information still engage in risky behaviors; this is especially true of youth. Many youth can recite the causes of HIV/AIDS, the ABCs (“Abstain-Be Faithful-Condomise”), and other information about the disease, but they do not create the link between these concepts and their own lives and behaviors. This PCV trained a group of 14 youth (7 male, 7 female) from the two high schools in Tshamahansi Village between August and November 2006 to be Life Skills Peer Educators. These youths had been singled out by their teachers as the “best of the best,” but many of them lacked vital knowledge and held outdated opinions about HIV/AIDS before the Life Skills Training began. Considering that these were the “best of the best,” the evidence is clear that there is an urgent need for information about HIV/AIDS in Tshamahansi.
To date, large-scale programs and activities have not been developed in the area of HIV/AIDS education in Tshamahansi Village. As a result, myths about the disease circulate in the village, and HIV/AIDS is a topic that is off-limits in most conversation. Most people are unwilling to go to the Tshamahansi Clinic to receive free testing; on average, only 30 to 40 HIV/AIDS tests are conducted in the village each month, and that is the mandatory test that is given to pregnant women. The results of these tests are that about 10 tests per month, or 25% of the results, turn out to be positive.
Most people in the village are unwilling to go to the Tshamahansi Clinic to get tested for a number of reasons. One reason is that many people fear that other people will gossip and spread rumors if they go to the clinic to get tested. Many people are afraid of the test itself; they fear that the needles will be painful and the test will be very difficult to go through. People also worry that others will discover their status, which, if positive, can be very detrimental to the person’s reputation in the village. But most importantly, people are unwilling to get tested because they are afraid they will be positive. A number of people have told me that, “If I find out I am positive, I will die sooner because of the stress of knowing than if I had never found out.”
We believe that being tested for HIV/AIDS is the first step towards acknowledging the disease, as well as a crucial step for those who may be positive to obtain the support they need. Through education and other incentives, we hope to motivate a large number of people to get tested at the local clinic over a period of four (4) weeks. If we can motivate hundreds of people to go in for the test, the risk of rumors spreading throughout the village will be eliminated. Also, through testing, people will gain valuable information about HIV/AIDS and learn about positive life choices that will help them to lead healthier lives. The message of practicing abstinence and, especially, of being faithful to one’s partner will be stressed throughout the entire project. In addition, if people do find out that they are positive, they will be given the medication and support that they need to help them live healthy lives. Finally, if a large number of people know their status in the village, they can serve as ambassadors in the community, espousing the benefits of testing and encouraging others to be tested. This could possibly serve as the stimulus for a dialogue about HIV/AIDS that has never existed in Tshamahansi Village.
Goals and Objectives
Goal
We hope that by increasing the number of people getting tested for HIV/AIDS in Tshamahansi, we will make the process of getting tested for HIV/AIDS a non-threatening, acceptable practice among its residents. We hope that this will inspire a culture of open dialogue about HIV/AIDS in Tshamahansi.
Objectives
1. We will provide 600 – 1000 people in the community with education about HIV/AIDS and healthy living, stressing the importance of abstinence and being faithful to one’s partner.
2. We will motivate 400 – 600 people in the community to receive a free confidential HIV/AIDS test during our “month-of-testing”.
3. We will provide the stimulus to make the process of being tested for HIV/AIDS a non-threatening, acceptable practice in Tshamahansi Village.
4. We will teach 8 – 10 unemployed, middle-aged women the skill of beading and will empower them through the formation of a beading group.
Beneficiaries
The parade, kick-off event, and month of testing will be open to anyone who wishes to participate. However, the target audience will be those most at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS, males and females ages 15-45. The kick-off parade and event will be open to the general public, but admission to the final celebration will be limited to those wearing their beaded HIV/AIDS pins, which will be given out at the test. We are hoping to have 600-1000 people attend the kick-off celebration, and 400-600 to go through with the testing over the course of the four weeks. In addition, 8 – 10 women will learn beading in our women’s beading group.
Project Design and Action Plan
Women’s Beading Group
The first phase of this project will be to form a group of 8-10 women who will make beaded HIV/AIDS pins. These pins will be Tshamahansi-specific (i.e. they will have “Tshamahansi” or something of the sort written on them). The pins will then be given to the local clinic to pass out to people who are tested. The target group for beading is unemployed, single mothers. This will allow for income-generation, skills-building, and empowerment. Once the group is formed, we will find a venue and set up a schedule for beading. We will bring in a beading expert from the community to teach the women how to make the pins. After 600 pins have been produced, the women will be paid for their labor (R15/pin).
Completed beaded ribbons will be stored securely at the Tshamahansi Clinic. Each individual in the group will make her own ribbons and will be paid individually, in Rands. The money received can either be used as personal income for the women and their families, or can be re-used for the purchase of more beads to continue beading for additional income.
Parade / Kick-Off Event
In order to elicit support from the community and motivate members to participate, we will hold a parade and kick-off event during either the last Saturday in July or the first Saturday in August. We will create posters to advertise for the event, which will be hung up in local tuck shops, shebeens / bottle stores, churches, schools, busy intersections along the taxi route, water taps, Induna residences, the soccer grounds, and the clinic.
Parade
The parade will begin at one end of the village (either at the taxi rank or at Induna Baloyi residence) and will finish at the soccer grounds, the venue for the event. The total distance is approximately 5km. We will gather 50+ people to walk in the parade, and hire a local DJ from the village to provide music and a microphone, which will be transported on a donkey cart. We will use the microphone to advertise the event and encourage people to join us in the parade and attend the event. Also, we will make giant HIV/AIDS ribbons out of poster-board and sticks, which we will wave in the air to attract attention and to indicate that the day’s event will be HIV/AIDS-themed in nature.
Kick-Off Event
The kick-off event will begin directly after the parade. Through advertisements around the community, word-of-mouth, and the parade, we are hoping to attract 600-1000 people to the event. In addition, in the weeks before the event, we will speak to various groups in the community, give them handouts, and encourage them to tell others. These groups will include high schools, churches, pension days, traditional leadership structures, the Ward Committee, and others.
The program will promote the “Month-Of-Testing,” and include various speakers who will emphasize the importance of knowing your status and acknowledging the presence of HIV/AIDS in Tshamahansi Village. A representative from the clinic will talk about support services available and ensure confidentiality in the test results.
We are hoping to bring an HIV-ambassador to the event to speak about living with AIDS to show people that life can indeed go on after they find out they are positive. Also, because many people are very afraid of the test itself, the PCV (Omar) will publicly be tested in front of everyone to show exactly what happens during the test. Pamphlets will be available to all guests, which will include information about the “month-of-testing” and educational information about HIV/AIDS. These pamphlets will be written in English, SePedi, and Xitsonga to allow for maximum understanding. Information in the pamphlets, as well as information provided by all of the guest speakers, will stress the importance of abstinence and being faithful to one’s partner.
The event will also include entertainment for all guests. The same DJ from the parade will provide music, and we will have HIV/AIDS ribbon face-painting, along with some other small games/contests with small, inexpensive prizes. We will also try to find any local groups available to provide free (In-Kind) entertainment, such as traditional dance troupes, musicians, etc. Punch will be available free of charge, and we will invite local vendors to sell food.
Month of Testing Drive
Directly following the kick-off event, we will begin 4 weeks of testing. During this period, we hope that 400-600 people from the community will be tested for HIV/AIDS at the Tshamahansi Clinic. As an incentive to be tested, participants will be given a prize bag, including:
§ A beaded HIV/AIDS ribbon made by the women’s beading group
§ A “Certificate of Bravery”
§ Condoms
§ Candy/sweets
§ An information card to pass along to a friend (written in English / SePedi / Xitsonga)
§ An invitation / directions to the final celebration
§ A blank raffle card for the final celebration
We will decorate the clinic during the month, and create a large banner advertising the events that will be hung on the clinic gate. Many of the decorations placed in and around the clinic will stress the importance of abstinence and being faithful to one’s partner.
Final Celebration Event
Following the 4 weeks of testing, we will hold a final celebration function to reward everyone who participated in the testing. Admission will be reserved to people wearing the beaded HIV/AIDS pins they were given in their HIV/AIDS test prize bags.
The event will celebrate the huge accomplishment of the people tested, and include motivational speakers who will speak about the importance of acknowledging the disease and being proud of knowing your status. These speakers will stress the importance of abstinence and remaining faithful to one’s partner; speakers will encourage guests to practice these ideas to stay healthy. A representative from the clinic will speak about support services available for those who tested positive. Pamphlets, written in English / SePedi / Xitsonga, will be passed out to people. They will include information about healthy living and support services available, and will encourage open dialogue within the community.
Entertainment will be provided by a local DJ, and we will provide a variety of games and activities. There will also be a raffle with money donated from businesses in Mokopane and organizations in the United States. People who were tested could bring in their raffle tickets from their prize bags to enter the raffle free-of-charge, and stand a chance of winning one of five monetary prizes between R500 – R1000. Free lunch will also be provided to everyone in attendance.
Sustainability
Obviously, the event itself is not sustainable – funds for repeated testing drives and celebrations would be unavailable, unrealistic, and unnecessary. However, the event itself is designed to create a sustainable change in Tshamahansi, namely a culture of open dialogue about HIV/AIDS. The sight of 400 – 600 people from the village going to the clinic to receive the free test would pique attention in people who might otherwise have dismissed those who receive a free HIV/AIDS test as promiscuous or irresponsible. In addition, the act of testing itself will lose its stigma, and the hope is that those who have been tested (especially those who test negative) will disseminate useful information about testing throughout the village, taking pride in knowing their status and encouraging others to do the same.
The event will have many beneficial and positive effects for the community as a whole, but there will be a large number of people (approximately 150 if current statistics can be extrapolated) who will discover that they are HIV+ during the course of the testing drive. TTTDP strongly believes that, after the month-of-testing and final celebration are over, support must be provided to all community members who received the free HIV/AIDS test at the Tshamahansi Clinic during the testing drive and discovered their HIV+ status. The Tshamahansi Clinic already has support in place for HIV+ individuals; they provide counseling and referrals to the Mokopane Hospital for further treatment and ARVs. When physical conditions worsen for HIV+ individuals in Tshamahansi, the clinic also provides access to Home-Based Care.
There is also a garden on the clinic grounds which all HIV+ individuals are welcome to use, free-of-charge. The clinic has some gardening equipment and access to water, so any HIV+ individual could easily show up at the clinic, use its garden, and grow nutritious food to feed him or herself, free-of-charge. According to the “Sister-in-Charge” at the Tshamahansi Clinic, this would also be beneficial in that HIV+ individuals would be in close proximity to the clinic and could be continuously counseled and monitored to ensure that they are taking their medication and eating nutritiously. Also according to the “Sister-in-Charge”, although there may not be immediate, direct benefits to those who have discovered their HIV+ status, the large number of HIV tests conducted during the testing drive will serve to improve the HIV statistics for Tshamahansi Village; this new information could serve to buttress requests by the clinic to the Department of Health for additional assistance in Tshamahansi in the form of additional HIV counselors or even a hospice in the village.
In addition, the group of 14 Life Skills Peer Educator that this PCV trained in 2006 has already received permission to start a Support Group in Tshamahansi; they have named it “Together We Can” (TWC). This group will also serve to support and assist those community members who may have discovered their HIV+ status during the testing drive. At the final celebration, members from TWC will invite any participants in the audience to attend TWC’s sessions and receive support.
The women who make the beads will have learned a valuable income-generating skill, and the hope is that they will continue to bead in order to earn some income.
And, finally, all of the members of this committee are living in Tshamahansi and will have been exposed to proposal-writing and management of large-scale events and funds during the course of the planning and implementation of this event. As a result, they will have the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to design and manage their own life skills projects in the future.
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