Blog 1: September 2020
Welcome to the Manor CE Academy Songani page
Manor has been supporting the fight against HIV Aids in Malawi for several years. A significant part of the non-uniform funds enables Mbedza Projects Support to pay the wages of the Songani staff team. This team are based at the new centre in Songani, opened in 2019 and received by the people of Malawi with a great sense of hope and celebration.
You can get a sense of the excitement that the new building created from this short video:
Why do we need this Centre?
HIV/AIDS was first diagnosed in the 1980’s and for the least developed countries became a great challenge. In Malawi, HIV prevalence peaked in 1999 at 14.6%.
Malawi is winning its fight against HIV/AIDS with the prevalence rate down to 9.2% in 2018 – but, there is still a long way to go. The work that Manor supports is helping Malawi in this challenge. The HIV counsellors at Songani – Fyson and Bainatu provide free testing, counselling and education to anyone who wants to be tested for HIV or to find out more about it. They provide testing in the centre at Songani and also ‘mobile testing’ in the community.
Janet’s story helps us understand why this provision of free testing and counselling is so important:
Meet Bainatu
“My name is Bainatu Masambuka and I am a HTC Counsellor at the Hope & Wellness Trust Centre. My work as a Counsellor involves interacting with people and I have to establish good rapport with them for them to open up.
My work includes HTC (HIV Testing and Counselling) which involves counselling and testing clients for HIV. Counselling is twofold: Pre-test which involves probing client’s HIV & AIDS knowledge and also understanding the level of a client’s risk (We have 3 risk categories – Low, Ongoing and High risk) Post-test counselling which involves giving of test results to the client and helping them make an action plan. I refer all HIV positive clients for further support at health centres and other organisations. The Ministry of Health introduced the Test and Treat programme – clients are put on the ARV drugs immediately after testing positive to HIV.
We conduct HTC both at the Static and Mobile sites. With Mobile HTC, we are taking the service to the communities. The interesting thing about Mobile HTC is that it provides the platform for creating awareness to COVID-19 as well as creating awareness about our centre – we tell them the services offered at the centre and we encourage them to visit. Sometimes clients will come and disclose that they have a Sexually Transmitted Infection and I refer them to Health Centres for treatment. Other HIV positive clients come for advice and special counselling – they disclose the challenges they are facing and I counsel them accordingly.
I also follow up HIV positive clients. This involves checking clients if they are taking their medication according to prescription and also how their bodies are reacting. Sometimes clients do develop severe side effects and advise them to visit the health centre. Most of the clients do not disclose their status to spouses or relatives and they end up taking medication in secret. During follow up, I encourage and persuade them to disclose to their spouses or close relations. I discuss with them the benefits of disclosing their status to loved ones. I also check if the client has gone for a Viral Load test. The requirement is for all HIV positive clients to go for a Viral Load test 6 months after testing positive to HIV and then after every 2 years. The health centre makes informed decision based on the amount of viruses in the blood stream. I also do health talks at the centre and sometimes at home. I encourage people to access the various services offered at the centre especially HTC. I also encourage those that are positive to go for Anti-retroviral Therapy (ART) so they can be put on medication.
Recently we established a support group, a forum for HIV positive clients. We meet them twice a month and we discuss various topics with them: We encourage positive living, adherence to medication, we discuss issues to do with Nutrition and many other life prolonging topics. We also encourage them to be enterprising by, among others, growing vegetable for food and sale, rearing chickens for food and for sale. Besides, they can also eat and sell some of the eggs. By doing so, they can maintain their health as well as buy other necessities using the money realised.
I believe I am doing a good job in helping youth and no youth alike. This is evidenced by clients whose lives I have helped improve - these clients tell others to visit the centre for testing and counselling. I strongly believe that my co-workers and I are doing a good job.”