Reflect and HIV/AIDS
HIV/ AIDS is a major issue in many of the communities using Reflect. Some of the key issues for Reflect facilitatoers and trainers to consider include: male participation in Reflect circles; the types of skills, knowledge and attitudes facilitators need in order to address HIV/AIDS effectively and objectively; how certain cultural practices (e.g. Female Genital Multilation) can be broached; how can participatory monitoring and evaluation can be integrated into this work. IRelevant issues for analysis at circle level have included: access to drugs; government budgetary allocations; openness and transparency; confidentiality; human rights focus (i.e. an HIV+ person should not be seen as a victim incapable of living a normal life); information and dissemination; role of different people (government, carers, counsellors); training for community workers.
Reflect Plus - Uganda: The links between Reflect and work to strengthen community strategies for coping with chronic diseases, and particularly HIV/AIDS, has been growing. Reflect Plus is a project being piloted in the Pallisa district and Fort Portal. The project aims to explore community coping mechanisms when confronted with cronic illnesses, and to learn about the developmental impacts of terminal illnesses for different members of the community. Reflect will enable community members to strengthen the positive aspects of their coping mechanisms and reduce harmful behaviours and practices within communities. The importance of opennes and transparency to demystify HIV/AIDS is also emphasised, with a particular focus on the need for reliable, confidential and trustworthy access to information.
New
Directions:An update on the work to integrate Stepping Stone and Reflect
The idea for integrating Stepping Stones and Reflect has been in the air for some time now with many of the Reflect and Stepping Stones practitioners feeling the need to have the two approaches working together in a more complimentary manner. Working with partners has brought it even more to the attention of practitioners that the two methodologies should not be separated in addressing issues of HIV/AIDS among communities.
The first attempt to integrate Reflect and Stepping Stones was in a workshop (held in Bangalore in July 2001) that brought together Reflect and Stepping Stones practitioners from Africa and Asia . They went through the analysis of the two approaches reviewing the strengths, and shared elements of the two approaches and also pointed out areas of tension that would need to be addressed if the integration were to work (see Education Action issue 15 for details). It was at this meeting where the integrated version got its name as Nayi Disha, literary translated as 'New Direction'. That workshop generated a lot of steam but, due to a lack of management and a clear follow up strategy, the process came to a temporary halt until recently, when the idea was picked up again to be developed into a funding proposal focusing on girls' and women's empowerment.
Today the process is back on course with renewed energy based on the expressed backing from the ActionAid Africa region, commitments from ActionAid UK's International Education Unit and the HIV/AIDS Best Practices Department plus the relentless interest from the ActionAid country programmes. One such activity that marked the revival was the joint meeting held this year in the third week of January 2003. The meeting drew together Reflect and Stepping-Stones practitioners from Africa and Asia and took place in Nairobi, Kenya, to thrash out the way forward for this integration. It involved reviewing the output from the India meeting and sharing updates of similar initiatives linking Reflect and HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe and Uganda. The learnings generated from this were key in developing a common understanding on why we should be seeking to integrate the two approaches. The conclusion reached was that the overall goal of integration was: "community empowerment in the face of HIV/AIDS."
A core team of Reflect and Stepping Stones practitioners from Africa, Asia and the UK will be taking the process forward over the coming months. Initially, New Directions will start in Asia and Africa, but will hopefully spread to other regions as the project develops. A project co-ordinator will be recruited to oversee the implementation of New Directions and ensure effective management of the project within Africa and Asia, linking up directly to the contact persons at the regional level.
There is still a lot to be done to see the back of HIV/AIDS, but much of the success depends on how well the communities are armed to face up to the challenge that HIV/AIDS presents. For us the strength is in making optimum use of the tools we have that foster community empowerment, and the integration of Reflect and Stepping Stones presents such an enormous opportunity.
For more information: please contact: Maria Nandago or Linnea Renton
See also: Education Action 15 - New Directions for Literacy and HIV - report of inital workshop
