PWN has established a strong network of 14 support groups, and are currently trying to recruit more women to participate as well as starting new support groups. The support groups involve women who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
As part of this process, PWN recently trained 20 support group facilitators. In their trainings, the facilitators learn to manage a support group and gain skills on facilitating and resolving group conflicts. Facilitators are also trained to know about different toolkits and booklets to distribute to support group members as well as how to bring in new members.
The main way PWN recruits members are through door-to-door campaigns where members canvas their township and talk about the benefits of joining a support group and encourage their neighbors to address stigma directly. Additionally, family members who have lost their loved one to AIDS invite PWN members to funerals. During these “Funeral Outreach” meetings, PWN members educate the family and friends about the disease, how they can get tested, and what other resources are available to them.
PWN’s support groups help to raise awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on women in South Africa. Their objective is to empower these women by providing them with psychosocial support and peer counseling to learn to live positively by dealing with this virus and to share this with their families. The support group provides a space for women to have an open dialogue about their lives as well as sharing information about HIV-prevention and treatment.
Training of trainers on Treatment literacy
Positive Women’s Network (PWN) recently ran a series of HIV treatment literacy workshops for support groups to inform people of risk-reduction life choices. PWN carries out these three five-day workshops on a regular basis. During the recent workshops, PWN trained 160 women on HIV treatment literacy and traditional healing medicine. PWN used the Population Council's manual on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) during the trainings.
The training covered critical topics such as HIV and Antiretroviral treatment, how fight disease, the importance of sticking to a regular treatment regime, and tools to help people remain on a treatment regime. These trainings are important as few women have access to any information about HIV/AIDS nor do they know of treatment or resources to help them. Once they are able to establish a treatment regimen their health improves. They become stronger and are able to hold down a job and in turn provide for their children and families.
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