Malawi
Our project partner in Malawi, Temwa, sets out to help build a sustainable future for the people of Malawi through community-based projects. Temwa is working with the people of Malawi, enabling them to become self sufficient and giving them hope for their families' futures.
HIV & AIDS Awareness
We support Temwa to deliver multiple ongoing HIV/AIDS education programmes in Malawi. The first of the projects involved the procurement of a television, VCR and generator, as well as books and videos about HIV and AIDS prevention. This equipment is used to host video events at the community centre in Usisya, where popular films were shown alongside educational videos on HIV/AIDS prevention. Temwa also run a number of Mobile Video Sessions (taking educational video shows to the wider population of Usisya).
The second HIV/AIDS initiative was the completion of the Stepping Stones programme, which was designed specifically for people in sub-Saharan Africa, and is based on a participatory approach to learning. A newly trained group of facilitators will continue to work in the wider community to teach the local population about safer sex, relationships and life skills.
Over the last year Bottletop has provided funding which has enabled Temwa to run 4 x HIV and AIDS Educational Workshops (2 x Stepping Stones programs, 2 x BCI Programs), coordinate the formation of a group of people openly living with HIV and AIDS (NAPHAM Group - this group will encourage the population of Usisya to be tested for HIV and AIDS and to be open about their status) and organise a community centre open-day focused on HIV and AIDS. The funding also covered a member of staff to coordinate these activities. Bottletop has provided funding for HIV and AIDS projects to continue throughout 2009 and will continue this support in 2010. The programmes that this grant will fund include a Knowledge, Attitudes and Practise (KAP) survey, and Peer Education and Behavioural Change Intervention courses.
The majority of these activities have all taken place in very remote regions of Usisya, bringing knowledge to people who have not previously been exposed to such in-depth HIV and AIDS information. With these programs we have been reaching communities that have not had any previous contact with another NGO/charity.
Peer Education Training
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a growing problem in Usisya, Nkhata Bay district, with HIV affecting a significant proportion of the population. Young sexually active people are particularly vulnerable to infection as they lack access to youth focused sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and information on SRH.
This project aims to provide young people with the information that they need to avoid STIs and to encourage the uptake of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services in this age group. This will be done by training peer educators who can then go on to educate their contemporaries in their respective areas of Usisya. The training covers issues such as communication, relationships, assertiveness and gender stereotypes. Ultimately we would like reduce the incidence of STIs (including HIV/AIDS) among men and women between the ages of 15-24 in Usisya, Nkhata Bay District. This age group that accounts for 10 per cent of the country's population and is important as it is the age range in which people are becoming sexually active and forming their sexual habits.
Objectives include improving young people’s knowledge of sexual and reproductive health (SRH), increasing VCT attendance among females and males aged 15-24 in Usisya, training 9 young females and 9 young males as peer educators in partnership with the District Assembly and Increasing condom use among males and females aged 15-24. The latest Peer Education programme in Usisya started towards the end of 2008.