HIV/AIDS related projects
Despite global concerns and efforts, this deadly disease is still epidemic in Africa.
The NGO provides care and support for individuals and families affected by life threatening diseases. This is done by offering Physical, Psychosocial, spiritual and social wellbeing through culturally appropriate services. The NGO’s Nursing home strives to accomplish this by providing competent and compassionate nursing and medical care, promoting Public Health and Human Rights community development projects.
The NGO also provides moral support to those affected and helps them to build self-esteem and hope in life.
Volunteers in this program will care for HIV/AIDS infected children and adults, and get them involved in educational activities. Orphans of HIV/AIDS victims can stay at the daycare center/orphanage. Volunteers with no medical training will mostly work in the here. Typical tasks – in addition to normal orphanage activities would be to:
Volunteers with medical training are welcome to help at the Hospice, or in the Home Based Care Project, where nurses assist HIV victims at home and provide them with healthy food, provide care, and try to eliminate the stigma of AIDS.
Typical activities are:
Medical training is not necessary for all aspects of the program, but a background in HIV/AIDS and basic health care is preferred.
Join AMKA AFRIKA as an HIV/AIDS educator in Tanzania! As a volunteer, your primary responsibility will be to run an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign in your assigned partner community. During orientation, you will be divided into teams of 3 or 4 volunteers with 2 Tanzanian counterparts. With your team, you will be responsible for teaching HIV/AIDS educational seminars and training peer educators and community leaders within your village. Each team will work with several school and village groups.
AMKA AFRIKA believes that the HIV/AIDS crisis creates both an imperative to act and an opportunity to learn. We envision a world where HIV/AIDS no longer limits length or quality of life or reduces the social or economic development of communities, and where young people learn the skills to address the health crises of future generations.
What we do
In the rural communities, poor infrastructure and widespread poverty limit access to HIV testing and prevention services, and leaves people living with HIV socially and physically isolated from care. Public clinics provide VCT and antiretroviral medications in urban centers, but lack of information, stigma and the costs of transportation all represent barriers to access and leave these services beyond the reach of Tanzania’s rural majority. As a result, HIV transmission continues, few people are tested in the villages and many of those living with AIDS die without accessing treatment.
AMKA AFRIKA works to limit the impact of HIV/AIDS in underserved communities by strengthening access to health care in rural areas and effectively train future leaders in global health and development. This is accomplished through providing a comprehensive set of HIV-related services in our target communities including: awareness campaigns, service-learning programs for international volunteers, providing free HIV testing and counseling services, access to healthcare and treatment with mobile clinics, training of community health workers and peer educators, and support groups for people living with HIV.
AMKA AFRIKA actively recruits volunteers from a network of well-known universities in the U.S. and U.K. but students from all universities are welcome to apply. Volunteers will live with home stay families in the villages in which they teach, allowing them to really experience the culture and customs of rural Tanzania.
Volunteers will also have the opportunity for vacation travel on their off time. Volunteers in the past have enjoyed activities such as climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.
