Breast milk bank provides hope for HIV-positive babies

Orphaned babies, many of whom are HIV-positive, are getting more than basic love and shelter at a home in South Africa's port city of Durban. They are also receiving the gift of immune-boosting breast milk donated by a network of mothers in the city.

When is prevention better than cure?

Benjamin Franklin once wisely observed, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." On reflection, Michael Bixby Dudley noted in 1994: Zealous reformers have obviously discarded this proverb. Several billion pounds of cure are seemingly required to ensure "health care security" for all. Forget the ounce of prevention - it is no longer sufficient.

PLWHA empowerment: some guidelines

Everywhere we turn, we are hearing the word Empowerment: People living with HIV/AIDS need to be empowered; Woman need to be empowered; Empower children .. It seems that most people need to be empowered!

Dietary Guidelines for HIV-positive living

Two United Nations agencies have come out in support of the beneficial role of diet in the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS. The World Health Organisation as well as the Food and Agriculture Organisation have declared that a good diet is one of the simplest means of helping people living with HIV/AIDS, and may even help delay the deadly progression of the virus.

Community-based approach developed for orphan care

An innovative pilot project by SOS Children's Villages Association of South Africa to provide community-based care for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS is underway in the rural community of QwaQwa, in Free State province.

Thandanani Childrens Foundation: Campaign for "Your Right"

Thandanani Childrens Foundation is a strong advocate for children€™s rights and has a full time Advocacy Officer. The current campaign, "YOUR RIGHT" encourages caretakers and young people to make the effort to obtain birth certificates and identity documents. Throughout the campaign we will be outlining how to go about obtaining these important documents and explaining the impact on one€™s life of not having these documents available. We are working in close cooperation with The Department of Home Affairs.

Umcebo Trust

Umcebo Trust is a non-profit organisation that believes that marginalised people have within them the creativity necessary to make a difference, and aims to establish a studio workspace for people to use and develop their artistic talents as a means of personal and creative development, as well as to generate income. Umcebo is an isiZulu word meaning "treasure".

Thandanani appoints new executive director

Thandanani€™s mission has been to build the capacity of communities in Southern Africa to respond to the needs of their Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children. Thandanani currently works with volunteer committees in the Pietermaritzburg areas with the main areas of focus being training and education, the advocating children€™s rights and psycho-social support. They also provide accredited training.

Civil Society helps in KZN ARV Roll-out

About 90 NGOs in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province have teamed up to work with the government in rolling out anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, in the first structured civil society response of its kind in South Africa, and possibly even on the continent. When the government announced a national rollout plan for free ARVs in September 2003, Cati Vawda, Director of the Durban-based Children's Rights Centre, and a number of her NGO colleagues, quickly realised that "government alone cannot do it".

New database gives orphans of HIV/AIDS quicker access to grants

A new computerised database is giving a number of orphans of HIV/AIDS in a rural town in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province quick access to government foster care grants.