Total Pageviews

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Chikuni Home Based Care: Changing lives of people living with HIV/AIDS


By Doreen Nawa
May 31, this year was time to roll out the red carpet for Chikuni Home Based Care because the organization had scooped the Jesuit Conference of Africa Madagascar (JESAM) Award in the category of best performance of home-based care.
And a visit to Chikuni makes one understand why Chikuni Parish HBC had to scoop the award unanimously.
Located in Southern Province and about a three hour drive south of the capital city of Lusaka in Monze town, Chikuni HBC started in 2000 in order to provide holistic care for people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA).
The Chikuni HBC is the brain child of the Chikuni Parish which falls in an area covering about 10,000 square kilometers.
The parish consists of approximately 25,000 people, most of whom are subsistence farmers living in isolated rural communities.
With only 18 people at inception, the HBC serves over 1,057 PLWHA today.
One of the beneficiaries, Gregory Hanzele says his health and welfare and that of his family have improved from the time he joined the home based care.
Mr Hanzele, who is living positive, says he would have died, from suicide had the care supporters from Chikuni not intervened.
Mr Hanzele  is Chikuni Parish HBC and says the HBC began as an outreach program for Chikuni Mission Hospital.
Initially, the mission hospital could only offer interventions for seriously ill patients as compared to long term basic care for the PLWHA, leaving them in serious health conditions.
 “At the time, many HBC clients were bedridden and the hospital simply did not have enough space or personnel to care for us. Thus, HBC began training local volunteers in the communities called “caregivers” in basic nursing skills,” Mr Hanzele said.
Mr Hanzele recalls that after being trained, caregivers, would visit between 4 to 8 clients, every week to offer support like washing the patients, cooking, fetching water, listening to their concerns, and praying with them.
“Before Chikuni Parish HBC was introduced here, PLWHA were all bedridden and we used to visit such every week but now the story is different, we are all up and about adding value to our lives and that of our families,” Mr Hanzele said.
Chikuni HBC caters for 27 communities and a nurse visited once per month to give a health and spiritual talk, check clients’ weight and blood pressure, dispense drugs to treat opportunistic infections, and offer emotional counseling.
It also offers VCT through a mobile clinic.
Chikuni HBC coordinator Father Kelly Michelo said, “The clinic draws people by bringing drama and video shows, playing music by local bands about the issues (HIV/AIDS), conducting quizzes in schools, and giving raffle prizes to raise awareness about the disease. By decentralizing testing, more people have been reached.”
Part of the challenge, however, is that because of the benefits that people have seen in belonging to the HBC, even those that are not positive want to join.
With time, clients have become healthier.
As such, Chikuni HBC began opening income generating activities (IGAs) at the main office in Chikuni Mission.
Charity Chiswida explains how a solar dryer works.
Today HBC has a tailoring lab, bakery, shop, garden, solar dryers, restaurant, and chicken run. Profits from the IGAs are divided between HBC and the workers, who are either HBC clients or caregivers.
About 20 people are currently employed in the IGAs.
In light of diminis


hed HIV and AIDS funding globally, the Chikuni HBC is fighting against the ‘missionary mentality’, where clients would just wait for handouts.”
“For over 100 years, the Jesuit missionaries had given handouts to the communities and this is the mentality that some people still have. When HBC clients were bedridden, we gave them rice, cooking oil, sugar, and other staple foods through the World Food Program. Now, when we asked them (clients) to work for themselves, some of them lost interest in HBC projects,” Fr Michelo said.
One of the beneficiaries to the IGAs Florence Habwezu says with the help of an Italian NGO, Chikuni HBC gave her goats that were to be raised, bred, and passed on to other community members.
“After losing my husband in 2000, I got so sick to a point of being bedridden and when I visited the hospital, I was advised to go for VCT and when I did that, I discovered I was positive too and I decided to join Chikuni HBC,” Ms Habwezu said.
Ms Habwezu says had it not been for the Chikuni HBC, she would have died by now because she had no income to start up any business.
A few years later, as a solution to the culture of dependency and make people initiate sustainable livelihoods, HBC began self-help groups (SHGs).
The 330 SHG members in 22 groups meet weekly or biweekly to save and lend, and discuss personal issues.
The SHG concept strives to unleash members’ human potential by empowering the individual to believe that “I have the capability to improve my situation.” The program emphasises the value of self-reliance in order to decrease the dependency syndrome within the parish and increase families’ livelihoods.
In many parts of the country, community home-based care has played a critical role in mitigating the impact of HIV and AIDS, as evidenced from Chikuni Parish HBC.
In light of diminished HIV and AIDS funding globally and increased reliance on HBC throughout Africa including Zambia, HBC’s are essential to improving patients’ quality of life, attending to their needs and achieving healthier populations.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Unsafe abrotion still a crisis



Dr Kaseba


By DOREEN NAWA
FIRST Lady Christine Kaseba says unsafe abortion still remains a crisis in Zambia.
Dr Kaseba said social attitudes towards pregnancies have contributed to the increase in unsafe abortions.
“The topic of abortion comes with so many questions that cannot easily find answers and remember that it is not easy for a woman to opt for an abortion.
“Women go through a lot before deciding and it will be unfair for society to judge them before getting to know why such a decision was made,” Dr Kaseba said.
Dr Kaseba was speaking in Lusaka on Thursday night during the launch of a documentary titled ‘Conversations on abortion’.
The documentary produced by Ipas Zambia, depicts Zambian women and girls who have undergone unsafe abortion and the impact it has had on their lives and families.
She has called for all Zambians to get concerned and play a role in saving the lives of women in the country.
Dr Kaseba said religious and traditional beliefs are big challenges in promoting safe abortion.
She said in Zambia, statistics indicate that unsafe abortions contribute up to 30 percent of the maternal mortality ratio.
Dr Kaseba said women and girls have been victims due to these challenges, forcing them to abort secretly by using unsafe methods under the fear of being recognized while forgetting the risks of taking the action.
And speaking at the same event, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health, Professor Elwyn Chomba, said, “Deaths as a result of unsafe abortion among women and girls are avoidable and unnecessary in a country where there is an abortion law in place.”
Prof Chomba wishes that the ministry be given a mandate to go in communities and sensitize the people on abortion.
And speaking earlier, World Health Organisation (WHO) country representative Olusegun Ayorinde Babaniyi says unsafe abortions are one of the leading causes of maternal death and illness around the world and yet they could be prevented.
“The terrible effects of unsafe abortions go well beyond the individual woman. Losing a mother and caregiver devastates the lives of children and families, and losing a healthy woman’s contributions to society reduces productivity and weakens her community,” Dr Babaniyi said.

Langiwe:Women's role model


Langiwe
By DOREEN NAWA
WOMEN are forever being asked if they can successfully combine family and a career life.
So is motherhood a barrier to a successful career?
For Langiwe Hope Lungu, the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) Executive Director, the answer is No….
Being married and a mother of seven (three biological), Ms Lungu says managing the two (family and career) is rough but it calls for focus and determination.
“I have to be a role model for my children and if I give up my career because of motherhood, then how will I inspire them….For me I strike a balance, I have quality time with my family whenever opportunity presents itself, especially when I am off duty,” Ms Lungu says.
Prior to her taking up the new job, Ms Lungu acted as ERB executive director from March to May this year.
“I acted for three months in this position and when the position was advertised, I applied for it and was picked through a competitive recruitment process. I was the only female out of the six of us who were shortlisted and I was picked and not appointed like most people think,” Ms Lungu said.
Born on June 2, 1968 from John Kalengo Chisulo Lungu and Regina Mtemeri Lungu, Ms Lungu is the only surviving female child and has three brothers.
“I am the only female child and I had an older sister who passed on. I have three brothers named Kalengo, Milingo and Musango after me,” she says.
Ms Lungu started school in 1974 at Kabwe Convent and completed her secondary school at Fatima Girls Secondary school in 1985.
In 1987, she went to University of Zambia (UNZA) where she obtained a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Economics and Development Studies and graduated with a merit in 1990.
Three years later on December 15, 1993, she joined the Ministry of Energy as Executive officer.
Her late father, a Zambia Railways  General Manager in Ndola at that time  is the reason for her ambitions.
“I have always believed in myself and I once envied being an airhostess and my dad challenged me to be a pilot. He told me to aim to be the doctor and not the nurse, the manager and not the secretary. And with such a mentor, I have always aimed high,” she said.
Ms Lungu is not new to ERB, prior to being executive Director, she was seconded by the ministry of Energy and Water Development to set up the ERB between 1997 and 1998.
“I was seconded by the ministry in 1997 to set up ERB and I was the defacto first chief executive officer,” she said.
Ms Lungu has over 20 years working in the ministry of Energy and Water Development, having held the positions of Energy economist, Senior Energy Economist, Senior Water Planner, Senior Energy Officer , Special Energy Adviser to the Permanent Secretary and the last position  she held was Principal Energy officer.
With the over 20 years of experience in the energy sector, Ms Lungu has handled key assignments in various sub sectors such as electricity, petroleum and renewable and alternative energy sources of energy.
Some of the key assignments include being part of the team set up to review the Sixth National Development Plan and aligning it to the Patriot Front manifesto. Ms Lungu was also part of the team set up for the drafting and compilation of the 1994 and 2008 National Energy Policy.
“I have handled quiet a number of key assignments in the energy sector like economic, gender and policy related. I was also part of a team set up by one of the former president through cabinet office to identify challenges in ZESCO and recommend solutions,” Ms Lungu said.
Currently, Ms Lungu is pursing a  Master of Arts in Business Administration at the University of Liverpool.
Ms Lungu has also pursued a Master of Arts degree  in Gender Studies at UNZA where she combined her passion for gender balanced development and energy. The focus of the thesis is on the Nyimba Energy Service Company pilot project to determine what impact it had on men and women in relation to its set objectives.
Asked how she starts her day, Ms Lungu responded…..”As a Christian, I start my day with praise and worship and acknowledging the Lord’s grace and favour upon my life. Whilst listening to music, I check for what the children will eat at school and leave instructions to my house assistant on what to prepare for the family. Once all this is done, I prepare myself and in a few minutes, I will be ready to go for work.”
 “Once at the office, I draw up a diary for the day which is drawn from my weekly plan and ultimately the Strategic Business Plan. I check what was not done for the previous day and then continue with what is in my in-tray,” Ms Lungu added. My day ends with dinner with my family and prayer.
Leaving a legacy,  according to ERB’s mission statement which reads…..“To regulate the energy sector in a fair, transparent and predictable manner that safeguards the interests of all stakeholders," is what is on her wish list.
“Women regularly report that their professional prospects are limited by taking time off to have children. Some women say that if they make a clear choice to be a full-time mother, they are seen by others (often women themselves) - as having made the wrong choice. But for me, that is not an issue, what matters is your zeal towards your ambitions,” Ms Lungu said.