Press Releases

News & Events › Press Releases › 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Plunkett, Hazel
Country Director, HIV/AIDS Twinning Center
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Tel. +255 22 2126880 & 0754894357
hplunkett@aiha.com

US Government-supported Partnership Launches Program to Upgrade Skills of Community Caregivers Who Assist Children Affected by HIV/AIDS

WASHINGTON, DC, and IRINGA, TANZANIA, July 31, 2007 — Some 60 community-based caregivers who work with orphans and vulnerable children in Tanzania’s Iringa Municipality are gaining much-needed case management and counseling skills at a two-week workshop being conducted at Iringa Baptist Centre from July 23-August 3. This is the second in a series of training workshops planned for Tanzania’s Iringa, Mbeya, and Dar es Salaam regions, which are characterized by particularly high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates and, consequently, increased numbers of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC).

The trainings are designed to upgrade the knowledge and skills of individuals providing care and support to the nearly 2.5 million Tanzanian children who have been orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. These children are more likely to experience isolation, stigma, malnutrition, limited educational opportunities, and a general lack of care and support. Trained government social workers at the regional and district level are presently assigned to only one-third of the country’s 126 districts. With training, however, para-social workers can help fill the gaps in the existing, severely overstretched welfare system.

With funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, an HIV/AIDS Twinning Center partnership linking the Institute of Social Work in Dar es Salaam with the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Jane Addams College of Social Work and the Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center is providing in-service training for social workers and para-social workers at the district and ward levels.

“This collaboration between the United States and Tanzania provides social workers and other caregivers with a vital opportunity to equip themselves with the knowledge and skills they need to better support children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS,” says Institute of Social Work Principal Dr. Hosea Rwegoshora. “The para-social worker training in particular is designed to rapidly scale up urgently needed support for these children because it focuses on upgrading the skills of individuals already working in the field.”

Participants in the Iringa workshop include community development workers, teachers, members of Most Vulnerable Children’s Committees, and caregivers working for non governmental organizations. Each participant was selected by the Iringa Municipal Council based upon their current involvement in some aspect of caring for orphans and vulnerable children. The training they are receiving will arm them with the skills they need to help children cope with illness and the loss of family members. Participants are also learning how to design care plans to help ensure that each child’s physical, emotional, and developmental needs are met. Commissioner of Social Welfare Mr. George Kameka will issue certificates to the para-social worker graduates in Iringa upon conclusion of the course.

A similar course was conducted for 60 para-social workers from Temeke Municipality in Dar es Salaam July 9-20. In total, this program will train more than 300 para-social workers in the coming year.

A closing ceremony and MEDIA BRIEFING will be held at Iringa Baptist Centre on 3 August, 2007 at 2:00 p.m.

« Go Back