HIV/AIDS SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

We have been very fortunate to receive substantial additional funding from the Swedish Embassy to roll out our HIV/AIDS Life Skills programme to all our projects and not just to a select few every year. This has made a huge impact.

The FBF does not believe that the HIV pandemic can be addressed in isolation and we treat it very much as part of our general social development work. Our task is to provide the youth with the motivation and tools for behaviour change and sustain that level of support over a number of years. When one is faced with the challenges our members face in life, it is very easy not to care how one behaves. They feel that there is no future anyway, so why change anything or act responsibly? But if they see that they are responsible for their future and that if they take the opportunities available to them, they can have a life - the decision making process changes completely. Thus, provided with the information which enables you to make educated choices, the confidence to stand by your decisions, you may have every reason to make a positive change in your life. 

We are hard at work creating a “know your status” culture within the FBF and, during our workshops this year, we tested 338 FBF members between the ages of 14 and 24; only four of our members tested positive. Although we did not test a control group outside of the FBF, and there might also be a selection factor at work, it remains a very positive sign that the infection rate of our members seems to be far lower than expected.  All our HIV+ members were immediately enrolled into a care programme and receive free ongoing counselling and medication from Aganang, our HIV partner.

We also feel strongly about the rights of our HIV positive members. If they are discriminated against by other employers we have been able, with the help of the AIDS Law Project (ALP), to protect their rights.  We are immensely grateful for the high quality of this support from the ALP, which has enabled us to help our members secure their rights as set out in our Constitution. For more information about the ALP and rights of people with HIV you can visit their website at www.alp.org.za.