By Alka Subramanian | Executive Director
Executive Summary
The Power of Love team would like to thank donors who supported "Healthcare for HIV Positive Children in Zambia". With support from donors such as you, we provide food, medicines, and essential life-saving health services to 150 HIV positive children in the Matero compound in Lusaka, Zambia. The package of services provided to children includes weekly health check-ups from Community Health workers, monthly visits from the Project Nurse, psychosocial counseling, and education in HIV prevention and adherence monitoring and training for older children. In addition, we provide ongoing training in HIV/AIDS care to caregivers (most of them are grandmothers) of the children.
As of April 30, 2011 we continue to provide food, medicines, and weekly health visits to all 150 HIV positive children enrolled in POL’s program in Lusaka, Zambia. Power of Love’s pediatric AIDS care program benefits 150 children directly and benefits an additional 1100 children indirectly. As a result of the continuous quality care provided to the children, and training to their care givers, all children are stable in health and are living close to normal lives. Below are stories of 3 children enrolled in our pediatric AIDS care program in Zambia.
Davis Phiri: Davis, the second child in a family of two, is a single orphan who is being cared for by his grandmother. Davis’ grandmother, sells charcoal for a living, and provides care to 7 other children in her household. Davis was born in July 2008 and lost his mom in 2009. Davis was very sick last December when his grandmother brought him to Power of Love’s clinic and he was enrolled in our program. Davis’s grandmother received counseling and training on HIV/AIDS care for a HIV positive child. Davis started ARV’s in January 2011; he is now in stable health and his grandmother is optimistic despite his positive HIV status.
Vincent Phiri: Vincent is the youngest child in a family of six and lives with his mom. Although none of his siblings have been tested for HIV, his mom tested positive when she was pregnant with Vincent in 2008. Currently, Vincent’s mother is taking ARVs to improve her health. In order to feed the family, Vincent’s mother sells different types of vegetables. Vincent’s mom was informed about Power of Love’s program by her friend whose child is also enrolled in the program. Since then Vincent has been enrolled in the program, and his mother has been able to get all her children tested.
Tresh Chiyanka: Tresha is 18 months old and has been part of Power of Love’s Pediatric AIDS program for the past 6 months. Tresha’s mother is also HIV+ and her father left them after Tresha’s birth. Unable to provide for herself and Tresha, Tresha’s mom moved in with Tresha’s grandmother who is already taking care of 10 other orphaned children. When Tresha enrolled in our program she was on ARV’s and was suffering from bronchitis and malnutrition. Our program provides her with high protein soya supplements, food and weekly health check-ups. As a result, she is not malnourished anymore, and is in a stable condition at present.
Future Plans
At this time, we are raising funds to continue to (i) provide food, medicines and life-saving health care services to all children in our program, (ii) train an additional 100 caregivers/grandmothers in HIV/AIDS care, (iii) ensure that all caregivers continue to be tested for cervical cancer and breast cancer screening, (vi) add a strong HIV “testing and prevention” program for the caregivers of the children to make this a more comprehensive model (with prevention, treatment, care, and economic empowerment). Please donate generously to this program so that we can improve the health of the children, the children can be back in school, and live close to normal lives.
Summary
In summary, this program has increased survival rates of children in the Matero compound in Lusaka, Zambia and significantly improved the quality of life of their families. The program is comprehensive as it takes care of physical (food, medicines, malaria bed nets, training provided to caregivers), social (education, cultural), and psychological (counseling, peer groups) needs of the women and children.
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