Traditional Response Overwhelmed

Because Hands at Work in Africa’s community projects are located in vulnerable villages across sub-Saharan Africa where HIV/AIDS, orphans and poverty are very high and support structure is very low, institutional models of care, such as hospitals and orphanages, are often overwhelmed and unable to cope with the sheer volume of needed care. In 2004 UNAIDS reported that “ the magnitude of orphans due to HIV/AIDS is so large that an institutional response – besides not being in the best interests of the child – will never be the answer. Orphanages for more than 14 million orphans simply cannot be built and sustained. ”

Community-Based Care

Hands at Work helps villages find community-based solutions to the crisis. Orphans are placed in family-unit homes within their community, which are headed by a primary care-giver, such as a grandmother or auntie, or—in the hardest-hit areas—an older sibling. Multi-care centres are then developed in the community, where those children come to receive nutritional meals, pre-school teaching, homework support, and mentoring. The multi-care centres often become extended homes for orphans, freeing caregivers to find work and earn income. These centres also act as a place where anyone in the community affected or infected by HIV/AIDS can find help, and are hubs for other community activities and outreaches.

Due to limited access to hospitals, as well as to the still-present stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, many sick patients are left in their homes, often abandoned by families, and are dying alone. Hands at Work helps its community projects train local volunteers in home-based care: l ocal volunteers are organized into support teams and trained in specific fields (child-care, palliative care, nutrition, etc) to provide holistic care for their sick and dying neighbors. HBC workers clean homes, bathe and encourage patients, support medication compliance, transport patients to hospitals and HIV clinics, and often simply provide acceptance and dignity to a hopeless patient dying alone in her home. HBC workers also catch patients’ children before they are orphaned and abandoned to the streets, helping patients plan for their children’s uncertain future.

 

Masoyi Community Intervention Model
Our full model of community care, named the Masoyi Model and awarded as a Best Practice Model in 2000 by USAID, includes 10 current components:

Home-Based Care: The foundational element of the model, volunteers visit patients’ homes offering medical, emotional, spiritual and domestic support.

Orphan Care: As vulnerable children are identified through home visits, volunteers form relationships with the children and provide support and stability by providing at least 3 internationally recognized care components.

Gardens: Strategically located in the community and tended by orphans and primary-care givers, gardens provide projects with increased food stability and a nutritional boost to meals.

Community Multi-Care Centers (Lula Model): Accessible community centers radiate support and training activities for volunteers, local care-givers and vulnerable community members and become an extended home for many child-headed households.

Community Schools: To provide vulnerable children with accessible education, community members open their own schools; Hands at Work helps them find a location, train teachers, acquire materials, and offer a healthy meal.

Peer Education: Inverting the negative peer pressure faced by youth, young leaders are trained to reach their peers with vital information on HIV/AIDS and life choices.

Youth Programmes: Project orphans gather weekly to receive mentorship, learn life skills and play sports in a safe, encouraging environment; youth are also empowered as leaders.

Building Projects: As youth develop through the projects, a few receive advanced training in construction and other life skills and join the project building team, providing construction support to project work in the community.

Income Generating Activities: As youth become involved, many are taught practical life skills: woodwork, hairdressing, tailoring, and beadwork, to open opportunities for economic empowerment.