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Day 3: maintaining capacity for conservation in organizations and communities – what actions can we take? (4 answers)

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Breaking the silence on HIV/AIDS and overcoming stigma
It is difficult to talk to colleagues and communities about HIV/AIDS because it is a sexually transmitted disease. Yet we have to overcome this stigma in order to tackle it. We have found that once we start a conversation, colleagues and staff in partner organizations are extremely grateful – they have wanted a chance to do something but didn’t know how to start. Bringing in health experts to do presentations on HIV/AIDS, share the facts, dispel taboo, and explain how the disease is and is not transmitted is an important step to begin this needed open dialogue. Do you have experiences on breaking the silence and overcoming stigma, or any questions about it?

-- Updated Mar 30, 2011 --

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Nov 11, 2008

RE: DAY 3: Maintaining Capacity for Conservation Organizations and Communities [HIV/AIDS & NRM discussion forum] by Karen Stewart on 03-09-2007
Karen Stewart
Posts: 2
The "USAID CORE Initiative works with faith based and community based
organizations to advance multi-sectorial responses through grants,
capacity building and networks. They have several articles from their
newsletters that give examples of the work funded by this initiative."
From the website, the initiative is not currently accepting
applications. Below is one of the examples from the CORE Initiative
newsletter of some of the work that is being done by CORE grantees.
http://www.coreinitiative.org/index.php

Religious Leaders in Kenya Lead Community-Level Efforts to Address
HIV/AIDS

(April 21, 2006)

_____

Two faith-based organizations in Kenya supported by the CORE Initiative
are leading efforts in 34 communities to address stigma, increase
prevention, and provide support to orphans, other vulnerable children,
and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). The Kenya Network of Religious
Leaders Living with and/or Affected by HIV/AIDS (KENERELA) and the
Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC) received grants from
the CORE Initiative to support community-level activities such as
trainings in home-based care for congregation members, micro-enterprise
trainings for orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC); and the
establishment of post-test clubs and referral networks.

In addition to including HIV/AIDS issues in their sermons, religious
leaders have been instrumental in mobilizing community members and local
leaders to support the planned HIV/AIDS activities. As a precursor to
beginning implementation, baseline surveys were conducted in 4
communities to assess the knowledge, attitudes, behavior and practices
related to HIV/AIDS; the extent of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and
discrimination; and existing care and support services for PLHA and OVC.

Community meetings helped to identify the catchment areas to be covered
by the interventions. The meetings also resulted in large numbers of
volunteers offering to be trained to conduct the community surveys. A
total of 77 community members participated in the 4-day trainings which
included role-playing and field practice. The participatory process of
involving communities, with religious and community leaders playing a
leading role, proved effective in mobilizing community involvement and
support for the HIV/AIDS interventions which are now underway.

-- Updated Mar 30, 2011 --
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  RE: DAY 3: Maintaining Capacity for Conservation Organizations and Communities [HIV/AIDS & NRM discussion forum] by Karen Stewart on 03-09-2007
  Karen Stewart
  Posts: 2
  http://www.balmingilead.org/home.asp
  
  This organization has received support from CDC. It's focus is more on
  domestic Christian organizations but has some international experience.
  There are a few products on their website, in particular a booklet
  entitled "Blessed Are They That Comfort: An Introduction to HIV/AIDS for
  Black Congregations".
  
  "The Balm In Gilead, Inc.(tm) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental
  organization whose mission is to improve the health status of people of
  the African Diaspora by building the capacity of faith communities to
  address life-threatening diseases, especially HIV/AIDS. The Balm In
  Gilead's pioneering achievements have enabled thousands of churches to
  become leaders in preventing the transmission of HIV by providing
  comprehensive educational programs and offering compassionate support to
  encourage those infected to seek and maintain treatment. The Balm In
  Gilead spearheads a dynamic response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in the faith
  community."
  
  -- Updated Mar 30, 2011 --
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Nov 11, 2008

RE: DAY 3: Maintaining Capacity for Conservation Organizations and Communities [HIV/AIDS & NRM discussion forum] by Anna van der Heijden on 03-09-2007
Anna van der Heijden
Posts: 2
*** On behalf of Beauty Jiji***

Dear All,

My name is Beauty Jiji and is working for IRG on the Namibia LIFE Plus
CBNRM Project as the Institutional Development Specialist. I would like
to share my own thoughts as well as experiences from Namibia and from
elsewhere on the issue of what organizations and communities can do to
reduce the impact of AIDS on their environment and/ or communities.

I do agree that AIDS is impacting negatively on the environment as well
as the communities that we are working with in terms of institutional
memory, death of bread winner leading to loss of secure livelihoods and
for those living positively - sometimes reduced productivity due to ill
health. The AIDS pandemic has also caused an increase of child headed
households who are very vulnerable to the pressures of this harsh and
unsympathetic environment in the world. The children are exposed to and
can be abused physically or mentally or spiritually since they will
trying to make a living out of the desperate situation that they find
themselves in.

The following is some of the things that I think or have seen
organizations doing with communities:

1. Reduction of increased use of Natural Resources

- Organizations can build the capacity of community members to
conduct participatory resource assessments so that they would know the
different valuable plants or medicinal plants, which can treat HIV/AIDS
related infections, and their quantity available in their areas. After
the process the organization can help the community to look at their
harvesting and processing techniques including traditional methods after
which they can agree on the species that can be commercialized for the
benefit of the majority so that harvesting can be controlled.
Communities together with their traditional herbalists can go further to
establish a local herbalist shop where community members can then buy
traditionally processed and neatly packaged herbs at affordable prices
compared to pharmaceutical drugs. This normally encourages communities
to want to manage their forests better as they see the benefits coming
from the traditional medicines shop. This also makes remedial medicines
readily available for people living positively instead of them having to
travel long distances to town to buy medicines from pharmacies.
Communities can together with organizations conduct participatory
research on the local valuable medicinal plants so that these can then
be domesticated for commercial production thereby creating an income
opportunity for the locals (the affected and infected). Normally
medicinal plants require very minimum inputs and management hence the
infected can also participate.

- The other way that I have seen is organizations promoting
Multipurpose trees growing by communities. Multipurpose trees can then
provide the most important resources to the community such as firewood,
live fence, natural lighting fuel, oil for soap, medicinal oils,
powders, natural water treatment, manure, livestock feed, nutritious
vegetables and pods etc. Multipurpose trees have the advantage of:

o Reducing labor for the infected and affected

o Improved cheaper nutritional vegetables, fruits and powders
found in the local thereby making them accessible to all.

o Low external farming inputs as the communities will be having
the manure from these trees.

o Some families will generate income from the processing and
propagation of these trees

o As well improving the soil or the environment as the communities
or household will not longer cut trees but get most of their
requirements from their small plots.

Such trees are being promoted by support organizations to their
communities: Moringa Olifera Tree (for water treatment, nutritious
powders, vegetables, livestock feeds, oils ---- highly recommended for
those Living Positively etc) and Jatropha (live fence, lighting fuel/oil
and soap making oil). Jatropha can also be used for rehabilitation of
very degraded places, as it is very drought tolerant.

- Crafts and other income generating initiatives - communities
in Caprivi, Tsumkwe, Kavango and North Central Namibia have been
encouraged to produce traditional crafts for sale thereby improving
their livelihoods and appreciating their natural resources more than
before as they harvests their raw materials and natural dyes from the
forests. The crafts are sold locally and internationally thereby
improving the lives of the women.

- In other communities, community members have been trained in
wild fruit jam making which they sale to the local market as well as to
outsiders.

- In the North Central Regions, communities are harvesting
marula fruits for oil extraction, which they are marketing
internationally through CRIAA thereby improving incomes to the
communities. Communities are also getting oil for high quality soap and
cooking oil from the remaining oils. This has helped communities to be
interested in managing the resources better as well as made the soap and
cooking oil easily available thereby saving costs on the already
overstretched household.

- 50 Conservancies have been registered in Namibia, which will
enable communities to benefit from the wildlife and natural resources
management efforts. Communities are benefiting from community based
tourism initiatives such as campsites, tour guides, game tracking, craft
making, joint ventures on lodges with private sector etc...

- In areas like Caprivi where they are large numbers of
elephants - youth's groups can be encouraged to collect elephant dung
for natural paper production. The paper can be used to make envelopes
and other tourist's souvenirs. The youths could also look at the
undesirable weeds in the rivers and wetlands that they can also use for
paper processing.

- In areas with a lot of logging companies - communities or
youths can be organized and equipped to make briquettes and boards from
saw dust. The briquettes can be sold for fuel in urban areas and highly
populated areas. The boards from saw dust can be sold for sealing
materials as well as making of cheaper coffins.

2. Farming Practices

- Promote Conservation Farming and Agro forestry. Organizations
are to promote local seeds and indigenous trees so those households are
assured of a harvest and food. This can be integrated with Bees keeping
in the agro forestry plots, which would help in the pollination of the
field crops grown in-between the rows.

- Promote Natural River or wetlands fish farming is that fish
can be readily available and cheap to all. Fish farming in ponds is less
expensive especially if its local breeds such as Tilapia which easy to
manage. This can also be integrated with poultry and piggery farming, as
this will form an easy production cycle.

- Promote and training communities in intensive small-scale
agriculture which use local available materials and resources. The
system requires community members to have kitchen gardens designed to
harvest water and soil in the process. Nutritious crops (butternut,
carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberries, etc) and herbs (thyme,
garlic, rosemary, parsley, sage etc) are then promoted so that the
household has fresh products at their doorsteps.

-

3. Loss of leaders and capacity in CBNRM

- Establish Youth Environmental Clubs at local schools and
communities.

- Fund competitions in schools on water and soil management
projects.

- Integrate CBNRM into preschool and schools curriculum

- Develop CBNRM children and youth specific program on TV,
Radio, books and magazines in all local languages.

- Establish resource centers with 50% materials on CBNRM and
HIV/AIDS including quizzes, games and puzzles.

- There is need for supporting organizations to consider
interviewing the elderly members of the community on video or cassette
recorder or written oral interview, which can then be filed in the local
resource center for future reference.

4. Orphans and Vulnerable Groups

There is need for organizations and donors to allocate funding for this
target group, as these are the most vulnerable and exposed. There is an
increase of orphans and child headed households who have to find ways of
fending for themselves. Some suggested strategies are as follows which
encourage that this group becomes aware and concerned with the
environment and HIV/AIDS:

o Organizations to establish scholarships for best environmental
studies pupils' upto secondary or university level.

o Companies and organization in the environment sector to fund
such initiatives as well as absorb the beneficiaries once graduated. CBO
can also offer internship and training in CBNRM.

o Organizations to have target specific NR income generating
enterprises so that once their financial position improves then they
will not be very much exposed.

o Organizations can also organize exposure tours to CBNRM
initiatives as well as have free holiday camping, which can be both
educational, and entertainment. This will help the children and the
vulnerable groups to appreciate the environment more and better.

5. Support Organizations

The biggest challenge that organizations are facing in Southern Africa
is funding to implement their HIV/AIDS Workplace policies. In Namibia
most of the CBNRM NGOs and Ministries have now put in places their
workplace policies. For them to be able to effectively implement theses
policies - some of the strategies require funding which some cannot
afford. Some of the suggested approaches are as follows:

o Mainstream HIV/AIDS in all CBNRM projects. Always link the
natural resources to benefits and HIV/AIDS.

o There is need for funding raising to implement strategies that
reduce risk to employees as well as improve on their wellness. Staff
going on long fieldwork should be accompanied by their spouses so as to
reduce risky behaviours and exposure.

o In support organization offices and /or during organizational
meetings - beverages, food and drinks served should be healthy and
nutritious in place of fast foods.

o Organizations with high numbers of staff might consider hiring
an HIV/AIDS counselor for their staff to help with awareness and
counseling so as to encourage Voluntary Testing.

o Have HIV/AIDS messages on all organization publications and
materials.

6. Information and Communication

There is need for organizations that are working with communities to
establish well-equipped Resource Centers run by the communities
themselves. These centers would be equipped with telephone, fax, and
computers for Internet link, library, and satellite communication
technology. The communities can therefore run this on self-financing
basis.

Centers can be linked to Networks such as Open Knowledge Network, which
allows the communities to share and learn from other communities
elsewhere via Internet. Relevant information can be downloaded and
printed for circulation among community members. HIV/AIDS information
can also be downloaded or uploaded including CBNRM.

Beauty Jiji

-- Updated Mar 30, 2011 --
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  RE: DAY 3: Maintaining Capacity for Conservation Organizations and Communities [HIV/AIDS & NRM discussion forum] [HIV/AIDS & NRM discussion forum] by Judy Oglethorpe on 03-11-2007
  Judy Oglethorpe
  Posts: 7
  hi, I wanted to add to Beauty's great contribution from Namibia. The
  following information came from Velia Kurz who is the National HIV and
  AIDS Coordinator for the Namibia Association of CBNRM Support
  Organisations (NACSO).
  
  The devastating impacts of AIDS are threatening the rapidly expanding
  communal conservancy program in Namibia. In 2004 Namibia was reported to
  have a 19% overall HIV prevalence rate, varying from 9% in the Kunene
  region to 42% in the Caprivi region. Since health services are scarce in
  the very remote areas where the communal conservancies are mostly
  located, NACSO has instigated a program to mainstream HIV and AIDS into
  the CBNRM program, since it offers a unique conduit through which
  information and education on HIV and AIDS can be passed. The program
  works at three levels, cascading down from the NACSO-member NGOs to the
  conservancies and then community level. Activities of the program
  include:
  
  - Putting in place HIV/AIDS workplace policies and programs at
  the NGO, conservancy and community level
  
  - Promoting HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, and where feasible,
  encouraging people to go for voluntary counseling and testing, and
  treatment when relevant.
  
  - Organizing training-of-trainer sessions and mentoring of Peer
  Educators at all levels.
  
  - Mobilizing social support using existing income generating
  activities in conservancies to assist orphans and vulnerable children
  
  - Monitoring and use of natural resources such as medicinal plants
  and wood to respond to the pandemic
  
  - Linkages and networking with other partners.
  
  The NACSO HIV and AIDS program collaborates closely with many health
  organizations at various levels from national to local.
  
  --------
  
  Given its large reach (ambitiously targeting one tenth of Namibia's
  population) and involving many different health and environment
  organizations, this is the largest HIV and AIDS program I know of that
  works through the environment sector. It is a great model and there are
  a lot of lessons we can learn from it for other countries.
  
  If you have more comments, please keep this discussion going!
  
  Best wishes, Judy
  
  -- Updated Mar 30, 2011 --