Tanzania Institute of Social Work/MATEC - Jane Addams College of Social Work Partnership

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One of the largest countries in East Africa, Tanzania is home to some 33 million people. More than 50 percent of them live in extreme poverty and 2 million are HIV-positive. In a place where human and material resources are sorely lacking, it is crucial that whatever capacity does exist is put to the best possible use.
Through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, AIHA’s HIV/AIDS Twinning Center is supporting a partnership between the Tanzania Institute of Social Work in Dar es Salaam and the Midwest AIDS Education and Training Center (MATEC) and Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois in Chicago. The overall goal of the partnership is to strengthen the Institute’s capacity to train social workers and allied professionals in case management, leadership, and other skills necessary to ensure comprehensive services are available to children affected by HIV/AIDS in all of the country’s 126 districts.
Partners are working together to bridge the existing lack of support for orphans and vulnerable children by developing a targeted curriculum and mentoring strategy for social work students; expanding clinical fieldwork opportunities; and creating a short-term program for training and certifying para-professionals who will provide direct care and services to children and families at the community level. Other activities include designing continuing education courses to upgrade the skills of practicing social work professionals and providing the Institute’s faculty with opportunities to expand their own knowledge and skills through professional exchanges and site visits.

Based at Jane Addams College of Social Work, MATEC provides HIV training and support services through local sites in seven midwestern states including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. The Master of Social Work program at Jane Addams College of Social Work is one of the 10 largest programs of its kind in the United States, preparing students to work as practitioners, caseworkers, administrators, policy advocates, and community organizers in a variety of settings and with diverse populations, including children and families facing acute and chronic health problems such as HIV/AIDS. To read more about the work of this partnership, please click here.

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