Nkurenkuru HIV/AIDS Committee

<photo caption: Kasanga Baetilda is a healthcare volunteer who will be involved in the project>

The Namibian HIV/AIDS Policy focuses on regional and constituency-level AIDS committees as the way to address the needs of communities, respecting local-specific issues. However, there are dozens of committees that are not functioning. Until recently that was the case of the Mpungu Constituency AIDS Coordinating Committee (CACOC) in the Kavango region – merely a name on paper. The main town in Mpungu constituency is Nkurenkuru, with a population of 6,000 people, 15% of whom are living with HIV. There are eight grassroots organisations working in the area: Red Cross, Total Control of the Epidemic, Mapilelo, Lifeline/Childline, ELCIN AIDS Action, and United Methodist Youth Organisation (UMYA).

In January 2008, volunteers from these organisations established a working committee acting as a branch of the Mpungu CACOC that is coordinating all HIV/AIDS activities in Nkurenkuru town boundaries. This is the first time all groups have come together to work on joint projects and as they continue to work together efforts will cease to be duplicated, referral and reporting systems will be strengthened, and volunteers will be able to support one another in the difficult work of community-based healthcare.

In order to give the working committee purpose and direction, they have taken on two projects in addition to general support of one another and coordinating efforts in the community: a Community Garden that will provide food for a soup kitchen feeding those who are on anti-retroviral treatment and cannot afford food, and a Bicycle Empowerment Centre (BEC) project.

B4H supporting chapter/B4H partner: B4H Colorado, USA
Other supporters: New Zealand High Commission, South Africa.

Links:

B4H Colorado