DHAT REGIONAL & National Roles
Mitigate the social and economic impact of HIV and AIDS on People with Disabilities in the Southern African region
Services
Training of Counsellors in Sign Language
During the period of July to December 2009 ten (10) people who already have counselling skills will be trained in sign language. These people will serve as a pool of VCT counsellors.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The project will monitor and collect data on monthly basis and provide reports to DHAT, Frontline and ZNAD on quarterly basis. The data collection and reporting system shall be harmonized to suite donor requirements
Training Counsellors in HIV
All the 26 counsellors above will require to be trained in HIV Rapid Testing. The training will be conducted by the Zambia VCT Services, based at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka.
VCT Service Delivery
the project will provide VCT services to people with speech and hearing disabilities. At any given time, each VCT centre will be staffed with at least 1 counsellor who is a sign language translator and another with speech and hearing disability
Training of Sign Language Communicators
During the period of July to December 2009 16 people (including sign language translators and at least 10 people with speech and hearing disabilities) will be trained in Basic Counselling skills
Deaf People in Basic Counselling Skills
Dhat regional will be training people in Basic Counselling skills. These people will also serve as a pool of VCT counsellors for people with speech and hearing disabilities.
ABOUT US
DHAT’s Regional and National Roles
The Disability, HIV and AIDS Trust (DHAT) is a not-for-profit regional organization promoting HIV and AIDS responses that address needs and empowerment of disabled people, through building and strengthening capacity of Disabled People’s Organisation (DPOs) in Southern Africa and SADC countries. The Trust’s headquarters are in Gaborone, Botswana.
People with disabilities face a number of obstacles to their full and meaningful integration into and contribution to society. In addition to these obstacles comes the burden of facing stigma, discrimination and responding to HIV & AIDS. On top of difficulties already faced, disabled people and their families face new sets of challenges that include access to HIV & AIDS related interventions and services deliveries, increased health vulnerabilities and information which is insensitive/ not accessible to their needs.
PROGRAMS
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
Our Marriage and family programs are aimed at building family cohesion from a faith- based perspective. We believe that marriage and family is a God ordained institution and our desire is to see families and communities embrace this and celebrate the goodness of God through marriage and family. Couples and families, including single parent homes, are prepared and supported from courtship to marriage and parenthood. The roles of fathers and mothers in the family are restored as families embrace God’s pattern for marriage and family relationships. 1. Marriage Preparation 2. Marriage seminars 3. Couples' weekends 4. Marriage Counselling 5. Parenting Seminars and Support
ADOLESCENT AND YOUTH
Our program with children and youth are informed by the fact that a large number of children and young people in the community are either orphans or are coming from single parented homes with, usually, the father being absent, either because of death, separation or general disengagement. 1. Psychosocial Support 2. Education and Vocational Training 3. Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) 4. Health and WASH programs
Child Sponsorship Program under Children and Youth
The project targets young children in Primary schools in and around Bulawayo who are orphans or are vulnerable children in one way or another. The aim is to keep the children in school and help them get a basic education. We provide school fees and basic scholastic material. We engage with the whole family through regular home visits and parenting seminars with the parents and caregivers so that they can be fully involved and support the learning process. Currently there are 10 sponsored children between the ages of 6 and 10 years. Help us to increase this number to 100.