Working to Empower (WTE) proposes to support, assess, and expand an HIV/AIDS Education and Awareness Project in the Kigoma, Tanzania. The project will work within the Nyragusu refugee camp, home to 59,000 Congolese refugees. The project will continue to support HIV/AIDS education, create peer education networks, develop short and long-term community-based sensitization programs and create locally-run resource centers for HIV/AIDS information.
In addition to these programs specifically designed for HIV/AIDS education and awareness, WTE also proposes to expand its already-running educational sponsorship program, Emebet Education Program (EEP), as well an income-generating program. These programs complement our HIV/AIDS programs and act as additional channels through which we can counteract the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS on Tanzanian society. EEP is a program that provides tuition fees, study materials and school uniforms to orphaned children, enabling them to attend secondary school. The income-generating programs aim to alleviate poverty of the most vulnerable in the society, single mothers. By utilizing the existing framework and capitalizing on the existing resources of these programs, we hope to expand our efforts and take new initiatives which help us provide the most to the targeted sections of the refugee camp.
The proposed HIV/AIDS awareness project will be implemented in collaboration with the NECH, a local non-governmental organization (NGO). As a part of NECH’s existing efforts in health sensitization, this project will ensure that the actions initiated now will continue in the long-term and will empower the locals to play an increased role in proactively dealing with the threat of HIV/AIDS in their communities Focal to HIV/AIDS education is the fostering a sense of community responsibility and motivation to deal with the problem; accordingly, we will work to train local instructors so that this education is continued and expanded by local efforts. Being a part of the local community, these individuals will also be the best judge of which groups, in particular, need more awareness on the issues of HIV/AIDS. This will again help in maximizing the positive effect of these programs. Additionally, our effort will be to provide all the tools and materials which allow our local partner to continue their educational efforts for as long as the need exists within the community.