The Warrior Women

Goals:
To enable the work of the Phelisanong HIV AIDS outreach workers; to offer patients medications, travel vouchers to access treatment, and to provide additional workshops and training for the 19 outreach villages.

Project Environment:
North eastern Lesotho, with an HIV prevalence rate of over 30%, has few services for its' HIV affected population. The Phelisanong Disabled Group has been doing AIDS education since 2001, and deliver necessary social services to a population of approximately 10,000 people. The villages served by Phelisanong's outreach work are very remote and sparsely populated; transport is limited and the lack of interaction with the outside world means people have little education about AIDS prevention and treatment. In this environment stigma is rife, and patients, along with their children, are often victims of violence.
Project partners include New Start/PSI, Phelisanong Disabled Group, and US Peace Corps.
See project description for details about community investment/involvement.

Description:

The HIV support group at Phelisanong consists of 50+ adults, mainly women, who have been tested for HIV. While the only criteria for membership is that you 'know your HIV status', most members are HIV positive. They have a handicraft co-op making straw hats which generates a small income, along with a vegetable garden to supply food to members. These income generating projects are in the development stages; this year, construction of a craft shop by the roadside, along with an investment in irrigation for crops, are planned to assist the support group members in maintaining sustainable livelihoods.

In addition to serving their own community, by giving workshops and offering support and counseling,  the group is doing outreach to 14 surrounding villages. They have developed a 5 step program as follows:

1. Identification and Training of Village Representatives
2. AIDS Awareness Workshops & Home Visits to AIDS Patients
3. Voluntary Counseling and Testing
4. Forming Support Groups
5. Development of Income Generating Activities with Support Groups

Working with Village Representatives, the group identifies households with AIDS patients requiring care, along with orphans and vulnerable children (needs of orphans and vulnerable children are addressed by the OVC Department of Phelisanong). The Village Representatives liase between their local communities and Phelisanong, introducing outreach workers and inviting the community to participate in workshops. Having a local vouch for them, and follow through with their work, is essential to the success of the project.

A group of 4 women from Phelisanong travel to do weekly home visits to bedridden patients, bringing candles, food, and soap. These patients can apply to Phelisanong for transport funding to get to the Tsepong ARV clinic in Leribe, a $5 expense that many AIDS sufferers cannot afford. These outreach workers also conduct workshops, each week in a different village. The purpose of the workshops is to teach people the basic facts about HIV AIDS; what is the disease, how is it spread, what are the symptoms, how it can be prevented and treated, and the importance of testing, both as a starting point for treatment and as a crucial factor in preventing the spread of the disease.

These workshops will be followed up by visits by New Start, an organization that offers mobile Voluntary Counseling and Testing. Community members are more likely to be tested having been given detailed information about AIDS, and having met with HIV+ people who have assured them that AIDS is not a death sentence. New Start has endorsed Phelisanong's approach, as there are substantial numbers of people willing to test in communities where Phelisanong have done workshops.

The next phase of the outreach work is to be the formation of support groups for those who have tested, or want to participate. Members will identify ways they can generate income, to survive, and to travel to Tsepong for ARVs. It's a comprehensive program that has already worked well at Ha Makhata; taking that pilot project to scale in 14 villages means hundreds of people are being educated and assisted to seek treatment, and beyond that, band together to develop business plans and generate income to support their families.

 The women conducting the workshops walk long distances to do their powerful presentations, where they bravely stand up and disclose their status, then go on to educate people about AIDS, and encourage them to be tested. Mainly women in their 20's and 30's attend the workshops, although they are open to everyone. These outreach workers  are not paid, and often walk and work on an empty stomach. 

A grant from the US Peace Corps for R17,000 has been secured so that the women can offer lunch to workshop participants, and to buy livestock for these emerging HIV support groups.  The Phelisanong organization has suggested that the outreach workers  be paid a small stipend for their work until the HIV support groups' handicraft co-operative and vegetable garden projects are turning a profit.

Outcome and Evaluation
Village Representatives will report to Phelisanong outreach workers on progress of this project, in terms of numbers of people joining support groups and visiting Tsepong Clinic. Funders will obtain more detailed information regarding success of income generating projects, along with statistics on numbers of people tested, through project partners Peace Corps and New Start.

The Warrior Women are currently producing a film about their work, to be an educational tool for other communities in the country, teaching lay caregivers and community members how to support people living with HIV/AIDS.