Mother and Baby support group

Mother and Baby support group

We have approximately 20 HIV positive mothers and their babies. We provide:
a)food parcels to improve their health
b) HIV/AIDS education to help the mothers enhance their health and to improve the babies' chances of being HIV negative.
c)Spiritual counseling as hope is vital and it is well documented that it leads generally to the clients living longer.
d)Basic Skills training -knitting and sewing to help generate a sustainable income.
e)Facilitating micro businesses for the women with a range of products e.g. nappies, biscuits, cleaning supplies etc.
f)Building happy memories -an important aspect of our work is to promote our clients having short term and long term goals and also to build happy memories for the mothers and their babies. This is accomplished by activities such as monthly birthday parties, excursions and such things as tree planting. Another popular activity is our Mothers Club netball team.
g)Help with obtaining government grants. One of our peer educators guides the applicants through the process by helping them to obtain the necessary paperwork such as Affidavits and I.D.s and direct them to the correct government offices.
In a social environment where there is still a huge stigma attached to HIV/AIDS which normally leads to isolation and in extreme cases can lead to stoning and beatings, our project is highly successful with the mothers coming together and openly discussing their status. Many of the babies are also testing negative due to ongoing education and support.

More photos here.