NEWS FROM THANDIZANI

 “... there was stigma and discrimination in my family ... Thandizani is the remedy” says a volunteer at Lundazi Network of Zambian People Living With HIV and AIDS (NZP+). Ms Jane Sakala.

Ms Jane Sakala is 47 years old with a 20 year old child and is a volunteer at Lundazi Netowrk of Zambian People Living With HIV and AIDS (NZP+) chapter. Ms Jane Sakala is a happy positive living woman who has expressed her support for the accessibility of ARVs to rural community members with technical assistance from Thandizani.

Thanks to Thandizani, My CD4 count was 156 at first ...

Now its 411 - Mary Chipeta

I’m Mary Chipeta, the treasurer of Phikamalaza Nutrition Support Group at Jim village, Chief Phikamalaza, Lundazi Eastern Province of Zambia. Our vision is to have healthy community members and to become self-reliant through family and group income generation activities (IGSa) for sustainability.

“14% of Children are now Orphans and 48% of these Children have been orphaned due to AIDS ...”

John Soko, Lundazi District Commissioner (DC) in Eastern Province, opened an innovative and challenging workshop for Legal Practitioners on HIV/AIDS and human rights. He said, “Children and women remain uninformed about their rights and find it difficult accessing the support to which they are entitled.”

According to THANDIZANI MEDIA UNIT, the workshop on the 29th January 2008, attracted 20 participants drawn from all the chiefdoms in Lundazi district including the hard to reach in the valley. Among the participants were Police, Magistrates and Local Court Officers. The workshop objectives were to share knowledge and skills on how to address issues of sexual abuse, defilement and gender based violence in relation to HIV/AIDS vulnerability. Also the workshop was aimed at soliciting support and influence amongst legal practitioners to ensure justice prevails over all forms of child abuse and defilement cases. Topics covered during the workshops included: Laws, Policies and Legislation towards Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs), Child Rights, Women’s rights and other forms of rights.

Mr Soko said “It has been discovered that there is high levels of gender based violence in the region. A large number of women nowadays live under constant threat of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence”. He observed that the psychosocial and physical trauma is made worse by the increased risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, yet many cases are unattended to. He further said, “traditional laws of inheritance have allowed the widespread practicing of property grabbing after the death of a single or both parents, even where legislation to protect women and children’s rights is in place.”

THANDIZANI Community Based HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Executive Director, Mr Geoffrey Chikunjiko, urged the community to help the Police in issues of HIV/AIDS and child abuse, which is increasing in the district. He said, “If children were abused while they were young, they would grow with anger, which might cause them to commit various crimes.” Mr Chikunjiko said “ THANDIZANI has the pleasure to work with different institutions in order to reduce child abuse” and he reminded participants to be the mouthpiece of the children because nobody can speak for them.

The participants said, they had come to learn that local courts, the Police and the Magistrates are all serving as one unit with various functions other than each was working against the other department. The participants also praised THANDIZANI for bringing them together and they pleaded for these services to be extended to the Valley. They also wondered how a big man could defile a two year old child hoping to be cured of HIV/AIDS, even if literacy is high.

New Partner: SIMAVI

Thandizani is very proud to announce the new partnership with the Netherlands based donor SIMAVI. Thandizani has received Euor 95,000.-- for the scaling up of their VCT services and the provision of ARV/ARTs. In a 2 year period Thandizani will carry out 80 mobile VCT visits per year plus scale up the static VCT, reaching 12,000 people who will voluntarily be tested for HIV/AIDS. In the newly finished VCT Laboratory Thandizani will also provide ARV/ARTS to 650 people, in combination with Home Based care training for the Care Givers.

Download SIMAVI’s Project Evaluation Report in PDF format (289 KB)

New Administrative Building

In January, Thandizani moved their Administration to the new office block. The community had participated and helped Thandizani by making the bricks. Attached to the new Administration Block is the NZELU ICT & Internet Centre, offering high speed internet access and computer training for a small commercial fee.

Thandizani Community Based HIV/AIDS Prevention & Care, Lundazi - Zambia