Y4, Q1 Newsletter

JANUARY 2014

COP's Desk:

Welcome to SHIPP's

digital Newsletter!

We have an exciting year

ahead of us which has

already begun on a positive

note: a recent pilot study

was conducted by our

Monitoring and Evaluation

team in the Gert Sibande

region of South Africa, and

we now have identified GPS

coordinates of main

HIV/AIDS HTA's. This data

will allow us to track and

target our key areas making

SHIPP even more effective

in the prevention of

HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Doris Machaira

Chief Of Party

Sexual HIV Prevention

USAID Small Grantee Site visits

USAID conducted site visits to Small Grantees in Gert Sibande,

Ehlanzeni and Zululand Districts between the months of November

and December 2013. The site visits were conducted successfully

and helped SHIPP to identify areas for further improvement.

supporting Community Based Organizations (CBOs) to

clearly define their target population;

better enumeration of catchment population

finding an innovative way of providing on-going Technical

Assistance

Programme (SHIPP)

South Africa

New Employees

at SHIPP

Shizette Naidoo joins

us as Knowledge Manager.

Most recently self-employed at

Trendsetter Media providing

expertise in Media,

Communications, Web design,

and Online Marketing, Shizette

has also worked internationally

in the USA, UAE and as a

Policy Analyst at the United

Nations where she worked in

the Strategic Planning and

Membership Department at the

International

Telecommunications Union

(ITU) in Geneva,

Switzerland, and had

responsibilities ranging from

Campaign and Project

Management, Public Relations,

Administration, and copy

writing to procurement.

She holds a degree in

Communication Science &

Sociology, and also speaks

basic French, and Italian.

In her role as the Knowledge

Manager she will be part of the

Strategic Information

(Monitoring & Evaluation) Unit

at SHIPP.

Thandazile Mbonambi is

the new Technical Officer:

Data Management. She

GPS Mapping Project of HIV & AIDS

High Transmission Areas

Participatory Mapping and Plotting Project in the

Gert Sibande District to Scale-up Combination HIV

Prevention Interventions among Key Populations

in HIV High Transmission Areas

- Brent Matthysen

Senior Technical Officer, Monitoring & Evaluation

Between October and December 2013, SHIPP conducted a pilot

mapping and plotting project in the Gert Sibande District (GSD) of

Mpumalanga Province. The purpose of this project was to identify

those communities and smaller areas in each of the sub-districts

where the risk for transmission of sexually transmitted infections

(STIs), including that of HIV, are high, and ultimately to assist SHIPP-

funded community-based organisations (CBOs) and South African

Government (SAG) partners to collaborate in their planning and

implementation of packaged combination HIV prevention strategies

for such localities.

Image 1: Map of Sub-districts Plotted

holds a Degree in

Consumer Science and as

well as a certificate in

Monitoring, Evaluation and

Research Skills

Programme. Prior to joining

SHIPP Thandazile was

employed by Maternal,

Adolescent and Child

Health (MatCH) as

Monitoring & Evaluation

(Quality Assurance) Officer.

Kerry Mangold joins us

as Senior Technical Officer.

Skilled in designing and

conducting research; in

developing social and

behaviour change

communication

programmes for key

populations and in ensuring

operational and financial

compliance of project work

for international donors.

Most recently, Kerry

managed a 5 year CDC-

funded initiative targeted at

female sex workers in the

Gert Sibande district in

South Africa – the

Amaqhawe project. Kerry

completed her

undergraduate Bachelor of

Science Degree at Rhodes

University. With an honours

degree in Microbiology from

the University of the

Witwatersrand, a Post-

Graduate Diploma in

Management from the Wits

Business School and a

Certificate in Social and

Behaviour Change

In 2011/12 the GSD recorded the highest HIV prevalence (46.1%)

among pregnant women. SHIPP targeted in excess of 25 HIV high

transmission areas (HTAs) in the district to implement this project,

which were more than the 19 identified by the National Department of

Health (NDoH) in GSD during 2003.

Image 2: Hand-drawn Map of a HTA

Using hand-held global positioning system (GPS) devices, which are

battery-operated, teams comprising district SAG partners, CBOs and

SHIPP technical officers (TOs), accessed localities in the various sub-

districts to physically either draw by hand on paper or record the geo-

reference point of each site identified as a potential ‘hot-spot’ and/or

Communication from Ohio

University.

Pumla Ntlabati is our

Senior Technical Officer,

Youth & Prevention. She

holds a Masters’ degree in

Clinical Psychology and has

worked in the HIV/AIDS and

broader health sector for

more than ten years, with

excellent programme

management skills.

Besides her clinical

experience, the bulk of the

work she has been involved

in includes oversight of

programs, management of

program teams, and

conducting research and

program evaluations, all of

which are an integral part of

program management.

Duties: support and

strengthen the DBE’s

response to HIV prevention,

ensuring quality of sexual

and HIV education in

school-based programs,

and integrating gender and

health into interventions.

Sara Mkasi joins as the

Technical Officer: Health

Implementation – Gert

Sibande. She was

previously employed

as HIV/AIDS and STI

Coordinator by the

Department of

Health assisting with

Secondary Condom Distribution Point (SCDP). District authority, local

government and CBO social, health and safety and security

infrastructure and services were also recorded. Based on such

collated geo-referenced data and hand-drawn sketches, all recorded

hot-spots and potential SCDPs geo-reference points were transposed

onto electronic street and topographic maps using internet-

downloaded geographic information systems (GIS) software

applications at no additional cost other than the cost of data bundles.

Image 3: GIS Output File Examples

More than 800 hot-spot and potential SCDPs were identified in more

than 25 towns and villages throughout all sub-districts in the GSD of

which approximately 85% of all sites have a SCDP established within

or at the site. The majority of the hot-spots and SCDPs are indeed

receiving condom supplies from SHIPP-funded CBOs active in these

areas.

This participatory approach followed to derive a plan to scale up

combination HIV prevention interventions was a relatively inexpensive

rapid exercise to build mapping and plotting skills among CBOs and

SAG partners. Electronic datasets are available to stakeholders and

are updateable in the event of new sites being identified in future.

Capacity Building

reduction of HIV infection

and STI in the Communities

at sub – district level. Sara

holds a Nursing

qualification.

Announcement:

SHIPP Shared

Calendar

We would like to

announce our new Shared

Calendar!

The purpose of this

calendar is improve

communication and better

coordinate our

activities and it will also

assist us to plan and

organize logistics

effectively.

Planned and agreed upon

activities should be

forwarded to Lizzy at

EPhalafala@futuresgroup.co

m

before COB every

Thursday.

*You can find the shared

calendar on Outlook next to

your own calendar by clicking

the FG "Shared Calendar''

option.

Community Capacity Enhancement

Workshop

- Vusi Ntuli

SHIPP Technical Officer: Monitoring and Evaluation

SHIPP Pretoria office had commissioned Diaho social technologies to

conduct training workshop of both SHIPP TOs and Small Grantees on

the Community Capacity Enhancement.

Diaho Social Technologies (DST) sourced material for this training

programme from: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

leadership for Results implementation guide, and The Gestalt Institute of

Cleveland.

This is the approach that is

used by Small Grantees

through Community Dialogues.

The Small Grantees are using

this approach on the

understanding that the

emergence of the HIV/AIDS

epidemic has simultaneously affected communities at many levels,

thereby requiring innovative strategies to address the epidemic. This

awareness came about through a process called ‘Community

Conversations’.

The aim of the community conversations is not just to have people

Upcoming

Events

July 20-25 2014

20th International AIDS

Conference, Melbourne,

Australia

Success Story

From Intshakaza

Youth Support Group

''Superstition could

be the perpetrator

of the HIV virus''

This is the story of

Nomalanga Mdunge

who is 8yrs old; she was

raped by her uncle this

year on the 17th of

March 2013.

The incident was

discovered by peer

educator when she was

making her duty visit at

Nodwengu School at

Nhlungwane area. The

grade 3 Mrs. Shandu

explained to our peer

educator Zodwa

Shabalala that

nomalanga can hardly

work it’s like something

hurt in her private part

but she refused to tell

her the truth. Our peer

educator reported the

issue to the office . The

discuss a problem they know something about. It is to provide a

platform for people to think through all the repercussions of a

situation. It is meant to help people analyse the way their individual

values and behaviours, and those of their family and neighbours,

affect people’s lives and to discuss them with others. Community

Conversations create a space for mutual learning and result in new

perspectives and creativity. They help reshape relationships in line

with transformed values. They are an inclusive process for enhancing

the capacity of all groups in the community, including people living

with HIV”.

The CCE training was conducted to the SHIPP TOs and STOs in

Pretoria before it was cascaded to the Small Grantees to the three

provinces SHIPP is working in i.e Zululand in KZN, Ehlanzeni and

Gert Sibande in Mpumalanga and Region A&G in Gauteng.

Participants' reflection on the impact of HIV/AIDS on their loved

ones

Capacitation of District Political Leadership

To Support AIDS Councils

- Benjamin Makhubele

Senior Technical Officer, ESP

This training provides technical assistance to councillors/members

manager asked the

assistance from the

social work Thobe

Mkhize in the war room.

The raped girl agreed

that she was raped by

her uncle and he said

“he would kill her “.

We, as an organization,

visited her grandmother

but the grandmother

was very angry she

said that 'her son could

not have raped her

granddaughter', we also

as an organization went

to the accused

Mjongeni, we begged

him until he confessed

that he raped the girl.

He said ''Sihle my

brother I did it after

testing positive. Some

friend told me that the

young girl can cure HIV

and I thought of her to

pay a revenge since we

were enemies with her

mother who is my sister.

From now I would like to

volunteer to speak at

your organization and

tell people its a lie HIV

cannot be cured by

young girls".

He is now taking his

ARV’s and the girl was

treated with pep

(prophylaxis).

Projects in the

works...

of the mayoral committees, IDP unit/managers, section S7

managers, program managers; speakers as well as the mayors who

are politically mandated to chair AIDS councils.

In summary, findings of the assessment conducted by SHIPP in

2011/2012 to establish capacity levels of AIDS councils in SHIPP

intervention sites showed that there is a need to sensitize political

leadership on their role in HIV prevention in order to garner their

support for AIDS council work. The training aims to harness the

intervention and participation of political leaders in strengthening

and legitimizing the operations of AIDS councils.

55 political leaders from eDumbe and Nongoma attended the

training including Hon. Speakers and Mayors. Training for the

remaining sub-districts is planned to take place before the 2014

national elections.

Small Grants Programmes

The Intshakaza youth support group

The Intshakaza youth support

group is a non-profit

organisation that was founded

in South Africa in Kwa-

Zulu Natal in the Zululand

District. Funded by Futures

group under the Sexual

HIV/AIDS Prevention

Program in South Africa (SHIPP), the Intshakaza operates under

the Zululand district in Ulundi municipality.

The main objectives of the programme is to fight the high level of

spreading of HIV/AIDS to the youth, decreasing high level of

teenage pregnancy, teaching the youth about the important of using

the condoms and other ways of preventing HIV/AIDS and improving

the ways and strategies of condom distribution to the whole

community.

Primary Prevention:

A Community

Mobilisation Model

to Prevent Gender

Based Violence and

HIV Infections

SHIPP is under-way on an

exciting new training model -

Community Action Teams

(CATS) in order to prevent

gender based violence and

HIV infections.

The training curriculum will be

developed by the grantees with

assistance from SHIPP.

Training will be conducted in

modular sessions delivered to

Community Facilitators (CFs)

during a 2-day workshop by

the SHIPP Team. The 2-day

training session will be set out

to increase knowledge on

violence against women

issues, ensure CFs have the

skills to identify, recruit and

train quality Community Action

Teams (CATs). The sessions

will also focus on supporting

positive attitudes and

commitment to the PIA

program.

In facilitating the interventions,

SHIPP will work with partners,

the Small Grantees non-

governmental organizations,

community members,

community-based

organizations, traditional

leaders and religious leaders to

form partnerships.

The partnership agreements

include mobilizing, recruiting

and training selected staff from

the Small Grantees and

relevant structures and train

them as Community

OUTCOMES

The use of condoms have been multiplied to about 60%.

Youth from the age of 12 can freely talk about HIV & AIDS.

About 55% of youths can now go to the clinics for check-

ups

17th International Conference on AIDS

and STIs in Africa (ICASA)

“Now More Than Ever: Targeting Zero”

- Musa Manganye

Senior Technical Officer: HIV Prevention ( Mobile Men & Migrant)

SANAC - Futures Group – SHIPP

The conference theme “Now More Than Ever: Targeting Zero” was

derived from the UNAIDS’ vision of striving for “Zero new HIV

infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths”, but it also

highlights the need to “now more than ever” maintain the commitment

to ensure access to treatment for everyone in Africa irrespective of

their ability to pay for such treatment. The hosting of this Conference

in South Africa was highly symbolic as it was in South Africa during

Facilitators (CFs) who will be

the master trainers.

PURPOSE:

To equip communities

with knowledge, skills

and attitude

To prevent and

mitigate gender based

violence and the

spread of HIV

infections

CATS Training

Visit from

Futures Group

CEO

Christopher A. LeGrand,

President and Chief

Executive Office of Futures

Group paid us a visit last

December.

Quote

the XIIIth International AIDS in 2000 that a turning point was reached

in breaking the silence around AIDS in Africa, which resulted in an

unprecedented commitment by donors, government and civil society

to increase access to treatment in an attempt to turn the tide of this

epidemic.

The ICASA 17 was truly a success. It was marked by lots of exiting

innovations in number of sessions

held. It was an opportunity to renew the global commitment by

drawing the world’s attention to the fact that the legacy of Durban

2000 which is now under threat as a result of the global economic

downturn. It was also an opportunity for the international community,

and all Africans, to join efforts in committing to achieving an AIDS-

free Africa. Given the urgency of the issue we are anticipating that 10

000 of the world’s leading scientists, policy makers, activists, PLHIV,

government leaders – as well as a number of heads of state and civil

society representatives joined the debate on how to achieve this

vision. However, one must point out that in future, SHIPP should

consider participating in full moreover exhibition, abstract and even

hosting session to show case the work that is being done across all

levels that SHIPP support.

SHIPP Operations

“For to be free is

not merely to cast

off one's chains,

but to live in a way

that respects and

enhances the

freedom of

others.”

― Nelson Mandela

Rest in Peace to a truly

great human being.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela:

July 18, 1918 - December

5, 2013.

Staff Tribute to Madiba at

SHIPP South Africa

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our short survey!

Staff Wellness Day

- Gugulethu Ngcobo

HR Manager

The 24th of October 2013 marked the first wellness day when GRM

Futures Group and EH staff participated with enthusiasm. With

colorful teams in yellow, green, red, blue and orange; the office

buzzed with energy. As our colleagues who had formal meetings with

donors walked the corridors they too led by Caroline picked the joy-

bug and started at the testing stations before departure. Dr Jabu

Nyenwa country representative welcomed all staff and emphasized

the value the organization puts on its employees as the best assets.

The staff assimilated the financial talk by Nedbank and they further

engaged on behalf of the grantees. The partnership will now be taken

to provinces at district and municipality levels as the regional staff

began to take the vision of empowerment beyond them.

your responses are

appreciated

The Zumba class facilitated by Virgin Active created the hype that

brought the attention of our embassy neighbors who cheered as they

watched the active staff. JFK put a stamp on it when he led the staff

through the fat-shredding shutter exercise regime. We later

understood from Dr Eckhard Kleinau how they had the fruitful meeting

with USAid with the Zumba energizing music in the background as

staff puffed, jumped and laughed outside with DJ Nathi stereo. Those

points went to the blue team as Eckhard kept his blue tie all day.

The four (4) Discovery nurses

tested 47 staff for glucose,

weight and cholesterol. 20

managed to access HIV station

and were tested after pre-test

counseling. As staff reached

the self-assessment iPad

station, one could hear

resolutions to embark on the healthy habits.

During games staff created team building platforms as each team

rallied behind its members. Leading in team strategy were the orange

folks who were t-shirt coordinated by John however lost dismally with

Doris’ egg splashing. The blue team proved that the minority can still

make things work as Mfuza tumbled all the way! The green team had

the best dancers as Vusi took the Zumba limelight! The red team was

the best in following the time slots allocated and the cherry on top for

them was Kgomotso winning the Nedbank voucher!

The yellow birds, all things

bright and beautiful geared for

games and later the energetic

Zandi won the Woolworths

voucher sponsored by

4DHealth! Pheladi leading on

logistics ensured that the food

was galore to keep us together

and linger a bit longer.

From the HR desk, we thank the team as it bought to the vision and

made the day a success. While staff wellness is not a once-off event

but a pro-active and preventative approach, we count it a worthy path

towards organizational wellness too. Our efforts are meant to boost

the productivity levels; harness employee healthy lifestyle; provide

platforms for education and team spirit too. Health advocacy from the

World Health Organization contends that wellness promotion is the

process of enabling people to increase control over and improve

health. We also adopt the prevention strategy as we plan to support

staff in performing at their maximum best through healthy life

choices.

We met the 85% participation target with the most amazing staff.