HIVSA was our first partner in South Africa.

HIVSA--Its mission and focus

The needs of people with HIV or AIDS in South Africa extends far beyond drugs and health care. The household is becoming stressed beyond limits of survival due to the impact of HIV/AIDS. South African society is watching as its social fabric erodes substantially. The “traditional” safety net of the extended household in many cases has collapsed or is in a state of considerable erosion.

In addition, people who suspect or learn they are infected with HIV/AIDS need psychological support to cope with the implications of having a life-threatening disease. The fear of being ostracized by one’s family or community must be dealt with.

People married or in a stable relationship need support to in protecting loved ones from the virus, telling their partner, and coping with the birth of their children. They also need social support to alleviate the many consequences of an HIV diagnosis, repeated bouts of illness and ultimately death, impoverishment of themselves and their families, nutritional issues and self-worth.

HIVSA, non-profit organization, was established to develop and implement social support programs and strategies for people infected and affected with HIV/AIDS in the greater Soweto region. HIVSA:

• Developed a comprehensive social support program to improve the quality of life for Infected and affected people.
• Developed training, counseling and nutritional programs aimed at HIV+ mothers, their children, husbands and partners.
• Collaborates and forms partnerships with community organizations and government departments.
• Values individuals whose lives have been impacted by HIV/AIDS so that they can live positively and to improve their quality of life.
• Evolves with and for the needs of the people of South Africa who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

For many woman disclosure of their HIV status to their family and partners often leads to physical abuse and rejection. HIVSA has secured a rather dilapidated home to provide a temporary safe and secure environment in which to correct the problem and ultimately unite the family.

The Ndlovu Medical Centre was founded as a small health facility in 1994 after seeing a high number of people succumb to AIDS in the area. Today the clinic boasts its own pharmacy, X–ray machine, laboratory and a successful maternity program which includes a prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission program.

The clinic has earned itself a good name from the local community. It is well-recognized for giving a second chance to people sent home to die by conventional government hospitals, particularly those with AIDS.

Soft-spoken, Lettie Msiza, 27, from Mashikana village is one of these. She was admitted to Ndlovu Medical Centre in 2004 when her immune system had collapsed and she had large sores on her back that made it uncomfortable to sit.

“My aunt brought me here after the government hospital told me to go home. I don’t know why they sent me home because I was seriously ill. I could not do anything except lying down on my stomach,” she said.

Although she is still confined to a wheel-chair, she is much better than when she was first admitted at the clinic. She now works as an administrator at the clinic.

"Working while in hospital is helping me a lot because I sometimes forget that I am sick and it makes me feel like all other normal people, “she says.

Herbert Bholotini is a counselor at the clinic. Before that he was also a patient at Ndlovu Medical Centre. What he has learned through his experience as an HIV positive patient visiting different clinics, he says, is that “in most clinics they just ask you what’s troubling you and then, they give you Panado”.

“I do not remember being asked to take the HIV test in these other clinics. Not so long ago, I had an HIV-positive patient (from a government clinic) who came here in January. That patient was told to come back in March. But he is sick. His CD4 count was 60. Just imagine if they keep on taking that patient up and down - where is he going to end up?

The outstanding work done by the clinic caught the eyes of Becton and Dickson Global Technology company. It recently donated a CD4 count machine to the clinic. The Managing Director of the company, Peter Mehlape, says the machine will help the clinic to carry on doing its “extra-ordinary job” of serving Elandsdoorn community.

“They have done something out of the ordinary. I have never seen it anywhere in the African continent. The set up here is very unique in that it is very effective. The reach is beyond an average clinic,” said Mehlape.

Dr Templeman reckons that there should be more clinics of a high quality standard in rural areas because it is where the majority of people who need health care reside.

“Don’t do it only in big centers and in urban areas, but bring back care there where suffering is most and that is in rural areas. The highest prevalence, the highest amount of useless deaths because there is no access to care,” he said.

The Mother Bear Project is dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of a hand-knit or crocheted bear.

The simple gift of a hand-knit bear with a tag signed by the knitter has touched children with the message that they are unconditionally loved.