The Constellation for AIDS Competence

News in Detail for October 2008

Facilitators and communities shared their experience at Learning event
(20-22 October) Cambodia, (15-17 October) Philippines

In the Philippines and Cambodia, the Constellation with support of the Asian Development Bank, organized a learning event. NGOs members shared their experience with facilitating the AIDS Competence Process. Community members were also invited to share how they develop their AIDS Competence.
“I learned so many new things that I never knew before,” shared a participant in Cambodia. "This is the most memorable seminar I've ever attended,” said Abner from YESCon in the Philippines.

Since one year, NGOs in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Thailand stimulate communities to develop their AIDS Competence. In October, facilitators in Cambodia and in the Philippines came together for three days to share what they had learned.

Facilitators discussed their experience with the SALT approach and the self-assessment. “We integrated the SALT approach into the trainings for volunteers in five provinces. This changed the way the volunteers work and interact with people during home visits. As a result, the number of people who visit the health centre increased,” shared Ms Sam Narry Roth from Cambodia. "Why I'm here in this event? Because I fell in love with the AIDS Competence Process, especially the self-assessment," said Mickey from the Philippines.

During one day, community members participated in the event. They shared their experience around specific practices, like how to link care and prevention.
The individual experiences lead to common practices, illustrated below:

Linking care and prevention

Recommendation	Illustrations	Reference organisation	Reference person
PLHIV need ARV, but also knowledge about healthcare, social and mental support. Community care and emotional and economic support is important	A family in Kampot province had HIV positive people. They did not know how to take care of their family. After SALT visits and support of the community via the CRC HIV project, they accessed health care and get now ARV treatment and are supported by their community.	Red Cross	Mr.Samoeurn
Understanding of HIV testing and transmission is critical/ Attitude and behaviour of health centre staff is important	A couple whose wife was HIV positive came to the Koh Thom hospital. The health care staff provided extensive counselling and used the care for the women to prevent transmission to her new family and wider community. They gave her 2 choices: married with the possibility of transmission or marry with preventive measures and no children. The couple is happily married and the man is still HIV negative.	KohThom hospital	Mr NyKosal
	In Chouk District, Kampot, an HIV positive woman did not accept the reality of her situation. She was very sick and her situation worsened. After several sessions of counseling by CHC and her relatives, she agreed to take the test and get health services. Now she enjoys better health and takes her ARV structurally. She is involved in a Self Help Group. Her poverty remains a difficult challenge.	community person Kampot province	Lybora

SALT visit in Burundi "What I've learned is that there are a lot of resources that are waiting to be tapped. We and people who live with HIV/ AIDS have been used to thinking of resources as money only. But support and acceptance are also resources in the community. Now I see that I can think of doing something without thinking where to get resources for it," said Caca, Aklan AIDS Council.

At the end of the learning event, Arturo Bong Ang, one of the participants said that “There was so much passion today. I have never seen this before in any other workshop.”