[afro-nets] Community REACH: Grant Winners Selected

[Reachgrants <reachgrants@pacthq.org>]

Community REACH: Grant Winners Selected
---------------------------------------

Pact's Community REACH Program Announces Grants To Help People
Living with HIV/AIDS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Four organizations have been selected to re-
ceive a combined total of nearly $600,000 in grants over the
next two years for HIV/AIDS projects under the U.S. Agency for
International Development's Community REACH program. This is
only one Pact's many programs that strive to meet the United Na-
tions Millennium Goals by investing in grassroots organizations.
The selected projects will focus on providing service delivery
to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs). The recipients, all lo-
cal, nongovernmental organizations, were chosen from over 120
applicants in nine countries.

Community REACH, designed to enhance creative community-based
programs that have a demonstrable impact on the HIV/AIDS pan-
demic, reflects the tenants of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and
treatment found in President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Re-
lief, a $15 billion initiative at work in more than 100 coun-
tries. This is the fifth round of grants awarded under this pro-
gram.

Grant winners under Community REACH have the potential to reach
many thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS, traditional lead-
ers, caregivers, health care providers, and families affected by
HIV/AIDS. The local organizations that competed for this fifth
round of grants were required to have an existing program work-
ing with PLWHAs to promote positive prevention interventions.
Positive prevention aims to increase the self-esteem and confi-
dence of HIV positive individuals to protect their health, to
avoid STIs, to delay HIV/AIDS disease progression, avoid re-
infection, to prevent passing their infection on to others and
to adopt a wellness lifestyle aimed at prolonging life.

The four Community REACH "Positive Prevention for PLWHAs" grant
winners are:

* Dawn of Hope Ethiopia Association (DHEA), Ethiopia

This organization, founded by and comprised of PLWHAs, will
carry out a series of activities to benefit 7,000 of its mem-
bers. DHEA will expand its comprehensive counseling program,
which includes pre-test, post-test, and ongoing counseling ser-
vices. An important aspect of the comprehensive counseling plan
is the incorporation of ART preparedness. DHEA's current home-
based care service delivery will be made much more effective by
providing the proper materials, medical supplies, and ongoing
training to its home-based care providers working in five dif-
ferent branches.


* Fondation Pour La Sante Reproductrice et l'Education Familiale
(FOSREF), Haiti

FOSREF will provide ongoing counseling for PLWHAs, facilitate
post-test clubs and support groups, and offer home-based care
and anti-retroviral therapy. Also youth PLWHAs will be trained
in prevention and counseling, which they will then share with
other youth and the community as a whole.


* Hodi, Zambia

Hodi's principle objective is to increase the participation of
PLWHAs in Namwala District. Hodi has several major activities it
will implement that focus on providing improved care to an in-
creasing number of PLWHAs as well as reducing stigma and dis-
crimination. Under this grant, PLWHAs will be trained as home-
based care givers and provide services throughout the district.
Hodi will work with its partner organization, Namwala Farmers
Association (NFA), to provide mobile voluntary counseling and
testing to reach rural communities.


* Reseau Ivoirien Des PVVIH / The Network of Ivorians Living with
HIV/AIDS (RIP+), Cote d'Ivoire

RIP+ will hold its own small grant program, awarding eight to
ten grants to organizations that will in turn provide care and
support services to PLWHAs throughout the country. Each of these
grantees will receive training and participate in regular work-
shops. RIP+ will also carry out a media initiative focusing on
prevention and the reduction of stigma and discrimination that
will include making its website a more useful resource to PLWHAs
and the general public, working with a network of journalists to
encourage ongoing media involvement, broadcasting advertise-
ments, and talk shows.

Pact, a U.S. NGO, is managing this project in partnership with
Futures Group. Legally established local NGOs and community-
based organizations, including universities and faith-based or-
ganizations, may apply for grants if working on a local, re-
gional or worldwide basis in USAID-presence countries. For more
information, see
http://www.pactworld.org/reach or
mailto:Reachgrants@pacthq.org.