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HIV/AIDS
Education and Support
With the assistance of CAFOD, Projeto Esperanca or Project Hope was set
up in 1989 to help people affected by HIV and AIDS in one of the poorest areas of Sao
Paulo in Brazil. A small staff of 30 attends to almost 500 people with HIV and their
families, supported by a team of 100 volunteers.
Part of the work of Projeto Esperanca is the Orphan Support Programme.
The project recruits benefactors who become godparents to children orphaned by AIDS, some
of whom are themselves living with the virus.
While these children remain in the family home as far as possible, their
godparents, in addition to financial assistance, often offer emotional and social support
by visiting and celebrating events like birthdays and feastdays. In many respects they
become dedicated and caring "surrogate" parents for the children.
"We believe this is the least traumatic solution for the
child," says Dona Nene, the co-ordinator of the scheme whose salary is paid by CAFOD.
"Importantly, it also encourages the local community to take responsibility for local
problems."
A decent development in Projeto Esperanca's work is the provision of
palliative care for children dying of AIDS-related illnesses. In a small centre, children
who have no-one to care for them are looked after in a loving environment where their last
days are made as comfortable and pain-free as possible.
CAFOD continued to work alongside partners in projects similar to Projeto
Esperanca in many different parts of the world. The theme of World AIDS Day 1997 was
"Children Living in a World of AIDS", and just after that day, UNAIDS published
figures indicating that HIV is far more prevalent than previously thought. Over 30 million
people world-wide are estimated to be living with HIV, and in 1997 about 2.3 million
people died of AIDS.
The young people of the developing world are bearing the main brunt of
the HIV epidemic. Every day, over 9,000 young people are becoming infected with HIV,
two-thirds of whom are living in sub-Saharan Africa.
Children are having to witness the sickness and death of one or both
parents, often followed by the destitution of their families. They then face
discrimination and rejection. Some of these orphaned children may become street children,
living in poverty or by prostitution.
Over the course of 1997, many of CAFOD's AIDS projects have been
integrated into the mainstream development work for each continent, as the two become ever
more closely linked.
In Malawi, for example, AIDS is mainly affecting people aged 15-39: the
exact age range of people who are most economically productive. Therefore all aspects of
the Malawian socio-economic structures are weakened by the epidemic. Indeed, the most
productive people in agriculture, secondary and tertiary industries, government and
private organisations are bring killed disproportionately by AIDS. Consequently, so
development project in such a situation is complete without taking into account the
HIV/AIDS considerations.
CAFOD's response to the HIV epidemic remains targeted on the most
vulnerable in order to bring about a greater understanding of HIV/AIDS and thus increase
prevention of the spread of the virus.
In 1997, CAFOD facilitated a number of workshops in Thailand, Burma and
Africa. These workshops were requested and arranged by CAFOD partners and he participants
were educators, pastoral workers and care givers to women, men and children infected and
affected by HIV and AIDS.
Many CAFOD partners know that the challenge of HIV/AIDS is not just the
question of knowledge about behaviour change. HIV/AIDS is the challenge of day-to-day
life, which includes sexual relationships, gender norms, cultural practices, religious
beliefs and other underlying factors that affect an individual's ability to take control
over a situation that puts them at risk. CAFOD's workshops attempt to identify and address
the many real factors that influence individual and community behaviours and create
vulnerability.
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CAFOD Review of the Year 1997
