Kid AIDS Returns a Smile to Children Living with HIV/AIDS
YAOUNDÉ, CAMEROON, December 3, 2007—There are literally thousands of organizations and associations working on AIDS issues in Cameroon. However, those that have truly earned a reputation for concrete and effective results are few and far between. The Kid AIDS Association falls in this select category because of the impact of its numerous field actions and the timely vision of its founders since 2001: “Family and community, the best weapons in the fight against AIDS.”
Steeled with a fierce determination, Mr. and Mrs. Ndzié, following the International Conference on STD/AIDS that was held in Ouagadougou in 2001, decided with the help of five other members to devote themselves to the supervision and documentation of children living with HIV/AIDS. Convinced that the decade which had barely begun was crucial for pediatric AIDS, the association was officially established in 2003 with the goal of reducing the impact of AIDS on children.
“We began this exciting and uplifting experience with seven members, two of them particularly active, namely myself and my wife,” explains Patrice Désiré Ndzié, who is pleased with the work accomplished in six years. He adds: “AIDS affects us personally and we are highly committed to social causes. Children are too often society’s castaways, so we wanted to fill this void.”
Today, thirteen individuals follow their passion working for Kid AIDS in a number of areas of intervention, for example health, education, family and social welfare, advocacy and the fight against social injustices, documentation, and various studies.
The organization of Kid AIDS has substantially changed over time. In 2003, the association focused its action on mother and child protection. Its scope of action now encompasses community mobilization and the psychosocial care of children affected by HIV/AIDS.
Kid AIDS is especially proud of four programs:
the Children and AIDS program, which has resulted in some ten field actions of high quality;
the program to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child (PTME);
the community development program ;
the program on sexual rights and reproductive health (DSSR).
The greatest need today is for funding!
Around the world and in Sub-Saharan Africa more specifically, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has left some 15 million children vulnerable and orphaned. They are denied schooling, health care, and the most basic protections, along with many other fundamental elements of a normal childhood.
Thanks to generous benefactors and donors, and with the support of a number of humanitarian organizations and institutions including the Ministries of Social Affairs and Public Health in Cameroon, UNAIDS, Care International Cameroon, the Clinton Foundation, and others, Kid AIDS strives to provide, under the impetus of a small group of persons themselves affected to varying degrees by HIV, an appropriate and specific response to the needs of children.
The financial resources of Kid AIDS come from dues, subscriptions, and voluntary contributions from members, income from services provided to third parties, donor financing of certain projects, and sponsorships and contributions from benefactors.
However, despite the association’s many different sources of income, Kid AIDS still faces difficulties that have punctuated its progress for more than five years: the association’s resources remain uncertain in the absence of partners committed to long-term support; in addition, Kid AIDS faces a lack of specialized human resources in areas such as communication and accounting.
Bright prospects nonetheless
Kid AIDS is already making plans to consolidate its community development program. With a limited presence in the area of communication and advocacy, the association intends to make 2008 the year of communication. First up, Kid AIDS wants to develop a dynamic web site and multiple forums for discussion.
Structural development of the organization will also be a concern in the coming years. In this regard, the association would like to strengthen the capacities of its members, guarantee them a fixed wage, and ensure regular payment of its monthly rent.
In the words of the program coordinator, Kid AIDS would like donors to “help it truly exist and help the association in its strategic development.”
Confident of his movement’s future, Patrice Désiré Ndzié would like his association to become national in scope and its activities sustainable over time with respect to coverage for women and children living with HIV/AIDS.
“We wish for a more favorable environment because we are dealing with a serious problem (…) To maintain the rhythm that we have built up, we will need to meet even greater challenges.” And, in conclusion: “We do not want to remain volunteers; we want to grow and become more professional. The process is already under way.”
In the meantime, Kid AIDS and its members continue to rely on their imagination and their ingenuity to work for the happiness of child carriers of HIV/AIDS.
A few of the concrete results achieved by KidAIDS
Supervision of 180 seropositive women through personalized monitoring;
Educational sessions with women of reproductive age;
Supervision of 114 infected children in late 2006 (and nearly twice as many in 2007);
Training and sensitization for more than 30 educator/fathers;
13 permanent staff working full time for the association today, compared to two at the outset in 2001;
Opened a second office in Mbalmayo and planning to open a third office in N’Gaoundéré.
Action by the World Bank remains vital
Initiatives such as the Kid AIDS Association round out the support provided by the World Bank under its multisectoral AIDS control project. This project aims to stem the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Cameroon and mitigate its impact on infected and affected individuals, notably through capacity building at the community level, the design and implementation of HIV/AIDS control action plans, and assistance in the design and implementation of sectoral HIV/AIDS control strategies.
More specifically, the project undertook the following initiatives prior to its closing date:
Support to local and sectoral communities;
Support to the health sector through recruitment, training, and the provision of equipment;
Promotion of multisectoral action;
Mobilization of national resources and those of multi and bilateral partners;
Technical support to various target groups;
Monitoring and evaluation of the disease;
Development of an appropriate national mechanism to fight the disease, the National AIDS Control Committee (CNLS).
The project was officially closed on June 30, 2007. Pending a final evaluation, a second project is now under consideration.
The AIDS control project of the World Bank, by the numbers
More than 98 percent of the Cameroonian population has by now heard of AIDS.
One million persons have been touched directly by the project.
More than 30,000 persons have undergone antiretroviral treatment.
462 health facilities have been strengthened to prevent mother to child transmission.
1000 educator/fathers have been trained.
611 counseling and testing centers have been created.
62 approved treatment centers have been created under the project.
1419 traditional practitioners have been trained.
All 10 provincial hospitals have been supplied with laboratory equipment (automated devices, flow cymometers, etc.).
All 10 provincial hospitals have been provided with a provincial technical team for AIDS control.
98 sectoral strategies and 60 action plans have been developed.
RSS