Who we are

Since 2001 Seke Rural Home Based Care has been implementing home based care and palliative careinterventions to improve the quality of life for people affected and infected by HIV. SRHBC relies heavily on volunteer caregivers who are the backbone of the organisation. There are a total of 1023 caregivers and all of them have been trained in Home Based Care but only 145 have been trained in palliative care due to limited resources. The caregivers assist in identification, referral and monitoring of HIV positive clients through adherence education and monitoring. They are also responsible for coordinating support groups at community level.

The organisation is also involved in OVC care through addressing education, Health and social protection needs of children. The Education component comprises of direct school fees payment and payment of fees through proceeds from School Development Committee income generating activitieswhich were funded by SRHBC. The Health interventions include School Health Assessments, Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health for in school youths and assistance for HIV positive children using the Integrated Management of Peadiatric HIV AIDS Care and Treatment (IMPACT) model. The IMPACT model was piloted in Seke District by Seke Rural HBC and was very successful. The model has been documented and handed over to the Ministry of Health at national level which is now cascading the model to other District of the country. Social protection interventions include psychosocial support groups, support for child protection committees and counselling for children and their families. The organisation mainstreams livelihoods and gender in all its programming.

Tuesday 9 September 2014

Caring for Vulnerable Children

http://reliefweb.int/report/zimbabwe/zimbabwe-caring-vulnerable-children

REPORT
from US Agency for International Development
Published on 31 Mar 2010 —View Original
    Success Story USAID helps provide training and resources for village-based caregivers
In Zimbabwe, a nine-year old boy living with HIV knew to take his antiretroviral treatment whenever he heard the country's national anthem on the radio. The anthem is played twice a day, at sunrise and sunset - and this schedule coincided with when Kudakwashe needed to take his pills. When the radio had batteries that worked, this system worked well. When there was no money for batteries, however, the boy ran the risk of either taking his pills at the wrong time or missing the dose entirely - which was harmful to his fragile health.
Kudakwashe was orphaned by AIDS and lives alone with his elevenyear- old brother, Brighton, in a rural village outside of Zimbabwe's capital city. Although their paternal grandmother is alive, she has turned both of the boys out of her home, in a situation that is not uncommon among children who have been orphaned by AIDS. Many extended family members don't have the fi nancial or emotional resources to care for these children - and this has caused the number of child-headed households in Zimbabwe to increase dramatically.
Seke Rural Home-Based Care (SRHBC) is a local organization supported by USAID that has put in place a program designed to provide care and assistance to families in communities hard hit by the AIDS virus. With USAID assistance, the organization provides training and resources to village-based caregivers, who are from the villages they serve. In Zimbabwe, social connections based on family are extremely important and communities appreciate having caregivers that they trust and know personally.
"People want to be looked after by one of their own," said Veronica Ngwerume-Kanyongo, Director of SRHBC.
Caregivers play a large role in the villages where they work - they provide respite for families caring for a family member living with AIDS, they remind people living with HIV or AIDS when to take their medication, and they provide special services to the orphaned and/or HIV-positive children in the community. Caregivers make sure the children take their medications on time, help ensure the children's school fees get paid, make sure children are going to and staying in school, and link children with extra services, such as summer camps.
Kudakwashe's warm relationship with his SRBHC-trained caregiver is obvious. He greets her with a smile and allows her to stand next to him with her arm around his shoulders. For a boy living with HIV who has lost both parents to AIDS and been abandoned by his grandmother, this level of trust in an adult is remarkable and encouraging. With his caregiver's daily support, Kudakwashe's health has stabilized and he is able to stay in school. Thankfully, he also no longer has to rely on a battery-powered radio to stay healthy.
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