The clinic provides immunizations, training for community members in basic healthcare and common disease prevention, HIV/AIDS testing and education, and a number of innovative preventative health programs based on local needs. It is also the only clinic in the region that provides care to newborns. FIMRC also supports community groups that work with men, women, and children to directly influence the health and well being of families within the area.

FIMRC’s volunteers come from universities, medical schools and the medical profession. Volunteers travel to the clinic each year to support and expand the ongoing efforts of the organization through creativity and diverse skill sets.

• home visits,
• medications for opportunistic infections,
• nutritional assistance and vitamin supplementation,
• antiretroviral therapy,
• prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV, and
• support for orphans and vulnerable children.

HTH was founded in the spirit of social justice to promote health as a human right. Our mission is to support community-based health programs for the poor and to share lessons and build solidarity through global partnerships. Through these partnerships, our ultimate goal is to develop and expand community-based health care systems that provide the highest possible standard of treatment and support for poor people living with HIV/AIDS.

Its hostel program cares for and houses more than 150 of the neediest orphans and provides non-residential assistance to 120 additional children. Cabrini Ministries provides safe shelter and essential food, clothing, and schooling required for these children to survive.  More importantly, they provide the love and spiritual support that all children need to grow and thrive and that so few children in this country receive. Their guiding principle is to work as “co-parents” with the child’s family in order to foster existing family ties, and thereby strengthen the entire community fabric.

Although Swaziland is one of the smallest African countries, with a population of just under one million people, 40 percent of the population has HIV/AIDS and thousands die of AIDS-related illnesses each year.  More than 80 percent of Swazi children live without one or both parents, and there are some 200,000 orphan children.

Hundreds of newly trained healthcare workers supported by Touch Foundation are already saving lives. Currently, we are training 900 students in eight professional specialties. Upon graduation, nurses will deliver primary care, particularly in rural areas, assistant medical officers will deliver lifesaving interventions, and pharmacists will be equipped to administer preventive and curative medications.

Our focus is presently on Tanzania, where we are learning lessons what will be applied across Sub Saharan Africa. The U.S.Government describes Tanzania as a “regional anchor of stability.”  Touch Foundation has chosen Tanzania as the anchor of its work.

World Bicycle Relief specializes in large-scale, comprehensive bicycle programs. We provide management of the supply chain, technical knowledge, and logistics expertise.  The bicycles we distribute are specifically designed to withstand years of hauling heavy loads over Africa’s rough terrain, and we ensure that they can be locally repaired and maintained for prolonged use.

World Bicycle Relief:

• Works directly with suppliers to ensure that the bicycle design is the highest quality and that all bicycles are culturally appropriate.
• Employs local people to assemble and distribute bicycles.
• Partners with local community-based organizations.
• Trains field mechanics in maintenance and repair and to set up systems to supply spare parts.
• Evaluates the impact of bicycles in communities and improves programs accordingly.

African Services took its successful model for HIV/AIDS testing, care and support for African communities in the Diaspora to the frontlines of the global pandemic in Ethiopia.  Working in the heart of the community in three locations—Addis Ababa, Kombolcha and Mekele—we target the most underserved and at risk populations.  Since 2003, we have tested over 95,000 people.

African Services uses a mobile testing unit to bring HIV prevention education and free, confidential testing to Ethiopia’s rural communities in 4 regions. In addition, African Services works with families with HIV-positive children, providing pediatric HIV support including vital medication, treatment monitoring, and nutritional supplements.

Today, we know that HIV/AIDS is preventable and treatable, yet HIV testing and care is one of the most critical unmet needs in the struggle to end the HIV/AIDS crisis. The challenges facing Ethiopia are many, but with continued care and support we can give them the possibility of a truly positive future.

The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship (ASF) was founded to support the Nobel Peace Laureate Albert Schweitzer and his hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon, West Africa.  The Schweitzer Hospital– a world leader in the fight against malaria, the leading killer of African children–serves as the primary source of health care for the surrounding region. ASF sponsors senior U.S. medical students as Schweitzer Fellows in medicine and pediatrics at the hospital. In nearly three decades, more than 100 Fellows provided medical care to Gabonese men, women, and children. Working with an international staff of Gabonese and other professionals, Fellows provide care each year through more than 35,000 outpatient visits and more than 6,000 hospitalizations for patients from all parts of Gabon.  ASF supports the hospital’s Medical Research Unit, which focuses on malaria and is one of the most respected and productive research facilities in Africa.  It also helped establish the Community Health Program, which is a national model for providing comprehensive village-based healthcare, vaccinations, and health education in rural areas.

A simple solution is available: a variety of sweetpotato that is particularly rich in beta-carotene, which the body converts easily into vitamin A. Just half a cup a day of this type of sweetpotato protects the health of children and also dramatically reduces maternal mortality rates. The sweetpotatoes — called orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes— are inexpensive and easy to grow, and children love their sweet taste.

To promote the production and use of orange-fleshed sweetpotatos, the International Potato Center developed Vitamin A for Africa (VITAA), a partnership program that brings together more than 70 agencies focused on health, nutrition, and agriculture.

VITAA works at the community level, targeting mother’s groups and food-producing organizations. VITAA demonstrates the benefits of the improved sweetpotatoes through nutrition education and other programs, and encourages farmers to grow them for their families and for sale. Many people now make their living selling the sweetpotatoes. People living in disrupted areas of Africa are also benefiting from them: in northern Uganda, where violence has forced many farmers to live in protected camps, the improved sweetpotatoes are making food supplies more secure, generating income, and improving the health of their families.

Young Zethu Ngceza is just one of the people the Fund has helped. At the age of 11, Zethu was orphaned when her parents died of AIDS. She was left to care for two younger siblings; all three lived in a cardboard shack.

A Ubuntu counselor offered Zethu emotional and practical support; Zethu and her siblings now have decent housing, are attending school, and are protected and educated by after-school programs and holiday camps.

Inspired by Zethu’s story, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) recently invited Zethu and her case manager to speak at a CGI meeting in New York City. There, on stage with President Bill Clinton, Zethu pledged to start a support group for other young girls orphaned by HIV/AIDS. She is now hosting this group with ten of her peers.

Ubuntu’s 56-person staff serves over 40,000 children and adults with life-saving HIV/AIDS services and educational resources. The Ubuntu Model integrates four essential components:

• HIV prevention strategies: educational programs in 22 schools, community outreach to 5,000 people per month, and distribution of 1.2 million condoms per year.
• HIV testing and treatment.
• Youth empowerment through educational programs and career help.
• Case management, including counseling, social services, and nutritional support.