HIV & Health Support for Lake Tanganyika Villagers

This project report is a submission to GlobalGiving's 2017 Fail Forward Contest, where organizations are asked to share a story of when they tried something new that didn't go as planned and how they learned from it. Enjoy!

 The HIV & Health Support for Lake Tanganyika Villagers project was one of the early projects we put on GlobalGiving. We had great hopes of raising significant funds for the project. We had a staff member who had actually worked on the project and who knew the team well. With that link, we were confident we would be able to get the regular reports we needed from the project.

 However, we lacked one thing. A Crowd!

This was an early lesson of how to work effectively with GlobalGiving. We had a great and effective project, with a great team and a direct connection with those on the ground but we did not have the champion we needed for the project with a network to build on.

 We have kept the project page going and have been encouraged to see funds raised for this project from other sources. The truth is that is does seem hard to raise funds for HIV & AIDS projects and so you need to find those who are specifically wanting to fund this important work.

 In April it was decided that RED International would close down by the end of 2017. When we met with GlobalGiving UK to explain the situation they encouraged us to see if any of our partners would like to join GlobalGiving in their own right so that they could continue to raise funds for the projects which had been supported through RED International.

 Two of our partners signed up for the September 2017 Accelerator. Both successfully completed the campaign but AIDSLink International really surprised everyone including themselves. They chose to raise funds for a different project in Nepal which was also a good decision.  https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/aidslink-nepal/

They made the main focus of their campaign the Bonus Day. Before the donation day they had received around $1350 from 21 donors. That was a good start but they needed to see much more.

Just over an hour into the bonus day they passed the $5000 total and also the 40 unique donors needed to secure their place with GlobalGiving. They also used up the maximum $500 of bonus funding!

As more donations came in through the afternoon (UK Time) we noticed that they were climbing up the bonus day leaderboard. After two hours they had the highest number of unique donors for the Bonus Day. They were also within reach of having the largest amount raised for the Bonus Day.

The Bonus Day finished at 5am local time in the UK. By the time I turned in for the night AIDSLink had raised just over $11,000 from 70 unique donors and were top of both leaderboards. Once it was all over they had raised $13,600 from 76 unique donors.  This total includes the two bonus prizes of $1000 each.

What happened? They found their crowd. I know that they had one. AIDSLink International already have a good network of supporters and those who follow their work around the world. But the key thing was that they were able to tap into that network and get it to work for them. They found that if you can find your crowd and get it to work with you it is amazing what can be achieved.

One of the things I have realised is that if we had not been closing RED International this would not have happened.

Our plans to raise funds for the HIV & Health Support for Lake Tanganyika Villagers project have not been very successful with GlobalGiving, so from some perspectives this was a failure. Perhaps we should have looked at working with AIDSLink International before. We were all taken by surprise by what happened on the Bonus Day and it was important that the AIDSLink Team had ownership of that.

As RED International closes we are content that we have been able to pass this particular baton on to AIDSLink International. We know that this was an incredible result for them but also for GlobalGiving and it is not something you can do all the time. However, it does show that when you work with your network and build momentum with your crowd great things can happen.

As AIDSLink International takes over the Lake Tanganyika project from RED International, we wish them every success for the future, knowing that they have learned how effective the GlobalGiving platform can be when used to it's full potential.

 From the apparent failure to raise significant funds for the Lake Tanganyika project and what could also be seen as a failure as RED International closes down, we have been able to "fail forward" with AIDSLink International and their success with GlobalGiving.

Thanks again to all of those who have faithfully supported the Lake Tanganyika Prioject through RED International and this project page. The project has faced its own challenges as the reports have shown but they will continue on and we hope that more support can be drawn to the project once it is on the AIDSLINK International GlobalGiving page. A big thank you to all those who supported AIDSLink International on the Bonus Day and finally a special thank you to the GlobalGiving teams in the UK & US who encourage and support us in all of this.

 You should be able to find the Lake Tanganyika project in its new home soon https://www.globalgiving.org/donate/42852/aidslink-international/

 So, its over to you AIDSLink International and May the crowd be with you!

• AIDSLink Certificate (PDF)
  

According to the UNAIDS Gap Report 2016, there are approximately 1.2 million people across Zambia living with HIV, with 60,000 new cases in 2015. Though the HIV prevalence is declining, it is still a major threat to life; there are 20,000 AIDS-related deaths per year, and 37% of adults are not on antiretroviral treatment. RED International’s partner, AIDSLink International supports OM Lake Tanganyika’s medical project that focuses on villages around the lake where people have poor access to healthcare and villagers’ knowledge of HIV and AIDS is limited. The little knowledge they do possess is often wrong, influenced by local traditional beliefs.

 To try and address some of these issues, the team is always looking for ways to provide relevant education and support on issues surrounding the virus. Recently a team went to a nearby island to assess the quality of medical care, and also to give health education. In discussion with OM’s nurse, the headman explained some of the health issues the islanders are facing: unbalanced diets due to infertile land and therefore limited food availability, poor dental hygiene (dental caries, abscesses and tumours), and the presence of HIV.  It’s difficult to know the exact prevalence of the virus – because of the stigma attached to HIV, people fear to be tested. However, women are at particular at risk in these communities because of the unique culture in which they live. They are normally not empowered to understand or promote their own health due to a variety of contributing factors including low educational levels, male dominance as well as a lack of family planning, knowledge and resources. These women are also at high risk of contracting the virus because men are often not loyal to their wives.

 Seeing the need in the village for education addressing some of these basic issues, the OM team met with a group of women to discuss health. They covered dental health, healthy eating and hand washing. Many sicknesses are spread through not washing your hands after using the toilet, before cooking etc., and in a country where hand shaking is essential to greeting others, hand hygiene is of paramount importance.

 They then moved on to talk about HIV and AIDS, using a quiz to gauge the knowledge base of the women, and not a single question was correctly answered. They knew very little and had misconceived ideas. For example, they believed that contraceptive medicine offered to them was given to them because it was substandard and the Western world had no further use of it.

Speaking in this small group, the women felt able to ask very personal questions; in a country where questioning is often discouraged and private issues not discussed, this may have been the first time many of these ladies had ever had the opportunity to ask their questions in a safe environment. They asked many questions about sexual health and contracting HIV, and the nurse was able to dispel myths and address some of the stigma surrounding contracting the virus, as well as encouraging them to get tested and know their status. The ladies had a poor self-image, feeling that they were worthless. It was therefore a privilege to speak to them and help them believe in themselves and promote a good self-image.

Health education is desperately needed in these villages, and OM Lake Tanganyika is strategically placed to provide this. With team members living in all the major villages on the Zambian part of Lake Tanganyika, they are building deep relationships of trust in these communities. In a country where relationship is of central importance, this is a vital foundation to build before effective education can happen.

Thank you so much for supporting RED International and AIDSLink International’s partner in Zambia. By supporting this project you are empowering some of the most vulnerable people alive to make positive choices for their lives, and we are so grateful for your partnership.