HILLCREST AIDS CENTRE TRUST

1 October to 31 December 2013

QUARTERLY REPORT FOR PARTNERS

The Crane Project

The HACT Children’s Programme team wishes that all children could receive a gift at Christ-mas time. Thanks to an incredible response from the community, all 500 children on their programme, and within our Feeding Scheme families, were blessed with a Christmas gift in December 2013! Five bakkie-loads of gifts were delivered within the Valley of 1,000 Hills over a period of two days to KwaNyuswa, Moonlight, Molweni, Embo and Inchanga. HACT was in fact blessed at the last minute with more gifts then we required, so we deliv-ered additional presents to partnering child-focused NGOs.

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“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived.

It is what difference we have made to the lives of others

that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

- Nelson Mandela

GENERAL NEWS

Farewell Tata

In This Issue:

General News

Community Outreach

HIV Care

Woza Moya

Horticulture

Funders

Financial Statement

Contact Details

Right: a tribute to Madiba in the Woza Moya and Friends Windermere shop window. Below: HACT staff gather in the Respite Unit garden to sing the National Anthem and pray the morning after Mandela

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World AIDS Day Christmas Market

Our slogan for World AIDS Day 2013 was ‘At Peace With My Status’, and we used the

symbol of the paper crane to signify monogamy, life-partnership, love, and peace. A

huge thank you to Rainbow for sponsoring the t-shirts, which were given to those who

had a HIV test at our World AIDS Day Christmas Market, or during December, and to

KZN Weddings & Functions, who sponsored the marquees, tables and chairs.

The day was a huge success: the Centre

was bustling with visitors, shoppers,

staff, and crafters; some of the children

from our Children’s Programme enter-

tained the crowd with dance and drama

performances; we had live music, deli-

cious food, a fun children’s area, fresh

vegetables from our Gogo gardens, and

a photo booth full of laughter and mes-

sages about HIV/AIDS.

Thank you to everyone who was part of

making it such a special day!

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Above: some of the 38 wonderful volunteers at our Volunteers’ Appreciation Tea in December Below: the HACT managers with Karen (far right) and Darryn (far left) from Juiced Strategies on a team building day in November. Juiced Strategies sponsored a strengths assessment, three one-on-one life coaching sessions, and then a team building day, for the entire Management Team.

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Employee of the Year Awards 2013 (left to right): winner Sbusiso Mthethwa, our Education Manager, CEO Olivia Myeza, and runner up Sara Brown, our Home-Based Care and Children’s Programme Manager. Jabu Mauze, who was a supervisor and staff nurse in the Respite Unit, was in third place, but was unfortunately not in attendance at the awards, and is now retired.

Expansion project

The road to the Respite Unit has now been successfully moved to down the right hand side of the property -

well done John and his

team! This is the first

step in our ambitious ex-

pansion project, and we

are currently seeking

further funding for the

next phases, which in-

clude expanding the ca-

pacity of the Craft Work-

shop and Craft Shop –

please speak to Laurel or

Olivia if you are interest-

ed in contributing to-

wards the future of

HACT, and enabling us

to train and employ more

crafters. Gladwell and Derrick hard at work on the final laying down of gravel

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Feeding Scheme

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

The Feeding Scheme was able,

thanks to wonderful support from our

local community, to deliver special

Christmas food parcels to the 41 fam-

ilies on the scheme in December, as

well as provide a Christmas gift for

every child within these families. It

was particularly heart-warming to see

the many families in tears with par-

ents who otherwise wouldn’t have

been able to afford the Christmas

groceries, and children who received

a toy for the first time in their lives.

This quarter also saw some great

developments for the Feeding

Scheme, with five families receiving

their government grants, allowing five

new families to move up on the wait-

ing list and join the scheme.

Above: Our driver, Sthabiso, out on a Feeding Scheme delivery in Molweni Below: Rainbow staff deliver donations to HACT for the Feeding Scheme Christmas Hampers. They are pictured with Ndu from our Horticulture Team (2nd from the left) and Laurel, our Marketing and Fundraising Co-ordinator (far right)

We would like to send out a huge thank you to all those who

made the Christmas Hampers possible, including Glodina.

Marriott, the Jes Foord Foundation, Willowton Group, East

Coast Radio, Pharmalat, Imana Foods, Clover, South African

Polypropylene Yarns (SAPY) and the staff at Rainbow.

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The grannies who completed quilting training at Cotton Tale Fabric earlier in the year have opened the Qual-

ity Training School in order to train others in KwaNyuswa, and are producing amazing work. This makes a

total of three training schools within the Valley of 1,000 Hills. The Ngode Gogo Group has plans to start a

small homemade bread business, and already two grannies have attended training in baking homemade

bread at Embo Craft, and are using a bread-making machine. This is a pilot project for other Gogo Groups.

25 grannies attended training on small businesses in October, and benefited a lot from this training, which

they fed back was very eye-opening for them.

The hugely successful Imbokodo of 1,000 Hills Annual Event was held on the 29th of November. Guest

speakers included Mrs Nxumalo, the Ethekwini Mayor’s wife, and Mrs P. Xaba from the Department of

Health. The Soul Restorer Family Ministries team provided a delicious meal for each Gogo that attended.

We are hugely grateful for their continued partnership, and to Pastor Shirley Naicker, who both led the team

and opened the event in prayer.

The support groups and field officers worked very hard to make the event a success. Each group chose one

granny to represent them, and dressed her according to their choice as a group. 24 grannies entered the

competition, and the winner was Mrs Greta Majola. There were prizes given to the three best gardens of the

year, which saw Qalokwakhe group come 1st, Mathebethu group 2nd, and Sikhelekehle group in 3rd place.

The best group of the year was Mgoqozi 2, who were chosen because of their hard work. They have built

five concrete houses through their block-making project. Silwanendlala group was 2nd, and in 3rd place was

Ngode group.

Granny Support Groups

Number of groups = 36

Moments from the Imbokodo of 1,000 Hills Event

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Five learners were then selected from each

grade, making a total of 15 learners from each

school, and all 60 of these competed in the inter-

school spelling competition on the 25th October

at Banbanani Community Hall in KwaNyuswa.

The three overall winners were given trophies

and dictionaries.

A Peer Education camp was held from the 29th No-

vember – 1st December at the Mercury Hibberden

Children’s Holiday Home. A total of 60 peer educa-

tors were selected from five local high schools within

the Valley of 1,000 Hills to be agents for change in

their respective communities. The camp was de-

signed to create a fun and educational experience in

a safe environment, while they were trained in differ-

ent aspects of life skills, including HIV prevention.

The camp focused on leadership and problem solv-

ing, with the aim of furthering the students’ under-

standing of the role of a leader, as well as providing

them with basic skills to positively deal with challeng-

es in various environments. Ultimately the camp en-

deavoured to facilitate solution-making thinking as

well as physical exercise and creative expression.

The Life Skills programme continued to run success-

fully until the schools closed in November for exams

and holidays.

From the 7th - 10th October spelling competitions

were held at all four primary schools with the help of

Minerva Fellow Winnie Wakaba, with all the children

in the school from grades five to seven competing

together.

Peer Education and Life Skills

The Peer Education Camp

Winnie with the Spelling Competition winners

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The Counselling Department had a busy quarter, reaching many communities to conduct HIV testing in

response to the increasing requests after World AIDS Day 2013. One significant challenge to the work

of the Counselling Team this quarter was the weather; heavy rains meant a lot of cancellations for test-

ing.

The team has seen a rise in proactivity within many communities, and have observed that testing is now

ostensibly a welcomed practice. It is always valuable to have the Counselling team travelling out into the

community as not everyone can take time from work to visit their local clinic, find money for transport, or

their local clinic may be impractically far away, so having this service has proven to be very beneficial.

Another gap in HIV testing is around school children, and the Counsellors were successfully able to test

children in St Leo Primary School in Molweni after doing a campaign with the Education Department

aiming to encourage parents to see the importance in testing. 100 out of the 300 letters for consent sent

out to parents were returned, so a third of the children were tested. Sadly one little girl tested positive,

so the Counselling Team contacted and informed her Grandmother, and she was subsequently referred

to the Waterfall Clinic.

HIV CARE

HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT)

Children at St Leo Primary School watching an educational video on testing

HCT statistics for this quarter:

# Negative % Negative # Positive % Positive TOTAL

Female 888 87.2% 130 12.8% 1018

Male 493 88.5% 64 11.5% 557

TOTAL 1381 87.7% 194 12.3% 1575

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The outpatient clinic has been busy as always, being well utilised by both people from surrounding communities as

well as staff.

Nursing Services

We are still offering

some of our clients

training modules within

the clinic, in order to

give them a better un-

derstanding of their

diagnosis, how to deal

with it and what to

expect.

Down referral patients

are using the clinic

effectively, and we

have enabled some of

our staff who have pre-

viously collected their

ARVs at Don McKenzie

Hospital to take them

here to prevent absen-

teeism.

Staff members are be-

ing encouraged to do

regular check-ups, es-

pecially testing for TB

and HIV.

Clinic Statistics:

CD4 counts 24

Chest X-Rays 21

Patients referred for ARV's 16

Other bloods done 28

Home visits by nurses 6

Down referral clients 13

Consultations with new patients 59

Consultations with old patients 96

Of total patients seen, number of:

Female patients 90

Male patients 65

Sister Queen Zulu in her office

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These figures mean an amazing 77% of the pa-

tients leaving our Respite Unit during this period

were discharged, and 23% died in an environment

full of love and acceptance.

The challenges facing the Respite Unit this quarter

included a higher number of re-admissions, which is

possibly due to decreased care and management

outside the supervision of the Unit.

Having children come through the Respite Unit is

always challenging. This quarter saw a thirteen-year

-old girl admitted into care who started off quite sick,

but began to recover fairly quickly. This is undoubt-

edly due to the hardworking staff in the Unit who

gave an extra amount of care for the youngster, as

they always strive to do with children. This girl went

on outings, played games and watched movies; a

particular strength of the Respite Unit is they aim to

make people’s experiences there as close to a

“normal” as possible. This girl was successfully dis-

charged, and whilst this is great news for the girl

and her family, the staff do miss her sunny pres-

ence within the Unit.

Othandweni - Place of Love - Respite Unit (in patients)

Statistics for this quarter:

CD4 Counts 15

Patients referred for ARV's 7

Other bloods done 72

Chest x-rays (in patients) 57

Patients admitted Female 42

Patients admitted Male 46

Total patients admitted 88

Patients discharged female 40

Patients discharged male 34

Total Patients Discharged 74

Patients deceased female 8

Patients deceased male 14

Total patients died 22

This quarter many of the items from the Respite

Unit Wishlist were donated or sponsored, including

blinds, fans, outdoor furniture, and air-ripple mat-

tresses. Thank you so much to the many support-

ers who made this possible, including Stichting

Zulu Aid, FOIL UK, Blue Roof Clinic, Fairways

Drakensberg Gardens, and Penzance Primary

School. These are particularly needed items as

each serve a vital purpose to increasing the quality

of life in the Unit: blinds on the windows allow for

patients to have better quality sleep and also work

to reduce the impact of the hot sun through the

glass; fans contribute to better ventilation, reduc-

ing the risk of contracting TB during their stay, and

the air-ripple mattresses can help to prevent bed-

sores for those patients that are largely inactive or

confined to a bed in their condition.

Above left: carers with a beautiful etching of Man-dela with children donated by the Augustinian Monks Below: staff with a range of donations from Pen-zance Primary School

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Home-Based Care (HBC) Programme

The Home-Based Care Programme is proud to announce the selection of the pilot site and five Home-

Based Carers (HBCs) for a new branch of the Programme – the HACT Patient Advocacy (PA) Pro-

gramme. It will be conducted in Inchanga, and the five proud HBC’s are Lindiwe Hlongwa, Nokuphila

Khanyile, Thobeka Ntshangase, Tholakele Gwala and Nonhlanhla Mathonsi. The five new Patient Advo-

cates began the training process with programme manager Sara Brown to ensure they understand the

aims and processes that will be followed during 2014. The pilot’s official start date is January 8th 2014.

Due to the pressing needs of the community, the Programme has increased their client numbers from

460 to 600 over the past two months, which has proved to be challenging for the team. In addition to this,

household survey statistics and filing systems have needed to be updated and maintained but with hard

work, the team has managed to meet all goals successfully.

One of the significant aims of HACT is to make our programs sustainable and have them become rela-

tively independent. This quarter was lucky enough to see this in effect when a woman who was started

on ARV’s with the assistance of a HACT HBC, agreed to have her family tested for HIV and TB. The rip-

ple effect from the actions of this HBC, and many others, demonstrates that the message of programmes

like these can be far reaching.

HBC Training

Congratulations to seven of the

HBC students from KwaNyus-

wa who took the Home-Based

Care exam in November and

passed with distinctions, which

is considerably higher than in

previous years and is a great

result. A further seven students

passed their exams, making a

total of 14 graduates.

The Department of Health at-

tended the graduation ceremo-

ny, and Sr. Malinga from Bo-

tha’s Hill Clinic motivated the

students. HBC trainer

Nokuphila was delighted with

the high standard of the stu-

dents, and said “I was over-

whelmed this year when I had

students with whom I could

share different suggestions and

ideas; I loved seeing them do

so well!”

Adult HBCs 20

Patients seen by HBCs 615

Visits by HBCs to patients 9475

HACT CEO Olivia Myeza handing out certificates at the No-vember Home-Based Care graduation ceremony

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Heading towards Christmas, the programme held five children’s Christmas parties, and gave each child a

Christmas present – a fantastic effort, which has had a wonderful effect on the children. So many people

contributed to this, and we are grateful to each and every one of you – and East Coast Radio Toy Story

came through with support on the very last day of deliveries, which was a huge blessing!

One of the Christmas parties was blessed by a little boy who delivered a thank you speech to the HACT

Children’s Programme staff for touching his life as well as the lives of others. Needless to say there were

very few dry eyes in the room!

To send off the quarter with a smile, we would like to share the story of a little girl on the programme who

seldom smiled during visits, and would usually sit alone. One of the aims of the programme is working to

stabilise psycho-social problems, and this quarter saw this little girl finally smile. The team is thrilled that

she is on the road to recovery, evident particularly when she called Children’s Programme manager Sara

Brown “aunty” and gave her a Christmas present purchased by the girl’s family. Sara says, “It’s moments

like these that make the sweat and tears a distant memory!”

Children’s Programme

Christmas Gift Deliveries

Child Home-Based Caregivers (HBCs)

10 Number of psychosocial support interventions delivered

3066

Children seen by HBCs 488 Number of meals served to children 540

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As always, the Woza Moya craft project has been incredibly busy during this quarter, and one of the highlights

was the hugely successful World AIDS Day Christmas Market.

The “Dreams for Africa” chair was sent to The Netherlands to travel around the country with our Dutch partner

Stichting Zulu Aid, as well as to the home of one of our long-standing German supporters, Nina, where it visit-

ed several schools and had a supper held in its honour. This is a great next step to the story of the chair, fol-

lowing its remarkable success as it journeyed around South Africa.

An exciting event Woza Moya contributed to was sending crocheted squares to Canada in preparation for

their tribute to the Woza Moya yarn bombed tree at the Human Rights Museum. This was in an effort to dis-

play the influential and varied ways that grassroots organisations across the continent are including the arts

into their work, particularly with grandmothers impacted by HIV/AIDS.

The shop also participated in Zulu Day at Kloof Senior Primary – assisting them with items for display as well

as sending three bead workers and our potter, Frank, who taught beadwork and pottery to over 150 school

children. A great team effort!

The Zulu Lulu ceramic studio at the Piggly Wiggly in Lion’s River has also given Woza Moya a dedicated sec-

tion where the products are selling extremely well. This is a great way for the Woza Moya crafts to get even

more recognition and to allow for future expansion of Woza Moya products.

Some of the Woza Moya artwork and commissions during the quarter, including a beaded map of South Africa for SA Home Loans, and yarn-bombed HIV letters for a World AIDS Day seminar event at the UKZN Medical School.

INCOME GENERATION: WOZA MOYA

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These past few months have seen the Horticulture

team complete the fencing surrounding the vege-

table garden at St. Leo Primary School, as well as

conducting a demonstration plot for the pupils us-

ing spinach and beetroot. Fencing around a Gogo

Garden in KwaNyuswa was also finalised during

this time, a continued effort right through the quar-

ter.

One of the biggest challenges within local commu-

nities is the lack of stable access to clean water.

The team aims to encourage different methods to

approach this situation, for example harvesting or

re-using water, but it remains a significant prob-

lem.

HORTICULTURE: Plant Nursery, Food Gardens

& Nutritional Education

The garden project in KwaXimba community, spon-

sored by Libby Weir, continued in this quarter, with

several family gardens in action and the new chicken

& egg project producing a regular supply of eggs.

The Induna (chief) of the community produced vege-

tables, and sold them to the community as a way to

bring in an income for his family. Camperdown Com-

bined School in this community also continued to re-

ceive support from our Horticulture Team for their

school garden.

The Horticulture Team has managed to provide an

avenue for local Gogos to sell their vegetables right

here at HACT. This process involves HACT buying

the vegetables directly from the farmers and selling

them on Fridays and Saturdays, thus providing a sta-

ble customer base for the farmers with all money go-

ing back to them.

The vegetable garden at St Leo’s Primary School in Molweni

The Horticulture Team, with a few staff members from other departments, on a team-building day in December

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CURRENT and RECENT FUNDERS

Grant-Givers and Partner Organisations

Afrisun Community Development Trust The Gift of Hope Stichting Zulu Aid

Department of Arts & Culture NACOSA Global Fund Solon Foundation

Discovery Fund Oxfam Australia U.S. Ambassador’s HIV & AIDS

First Presbyterian Church Houston Stephen Lewis Foundation Community Grants Pro-

gramme

Local Donors

Individuals who donate each month via EFT or direct deposit are greatly appreciated. We acknowledge those donors who participate in the monthly Adopt-a-Bed programme, which contributes to the cost of running the Respite Unit.

Andre Vermeulen Hillcrest Methodist Church PerryHill International

Annette Smit Hillcrest Olive Tree Church Rainbow

AWF Natal Hornby Smyly Glavovic Inc Rentokil Initial

Baumann Trust Imana Foods Rio Clothing

BG Muller J du Preez Rioma Cominelli

Blanc Clothing J Reith Rob Clark

Blue Diamond SA cc Janet Reid Ronald Ingle

Blue Roof Clinic Jeanie Pryce Sihle Nyoka

Bridget Young Katie Blundy SiVest SA

Buds Garden Club Kay Harvey Smith & Nephew

Carecard Kelvin McCormack Smiths Plastics (Pty) Ltd

Carine van den Bergh Kerryn Sidea / McIntosh Soro

Carol Constable Key Truck New Germany South African Polypropylene Yarns

Carter Medical Supplies KZN Weddings & Functions SP Smith

Cellutology SA L. W. Moore St Vincent de Paul

Charities Aid Foundation Laurel Heights United Methodist Suzanne Hofmeyr

Charleen Goschen Lauren and Garry Cohen Sylt Rotary Club

Charlotte da Silva M Naiker Terrible Twins

Christine Parry Mariannridge Methodist Church The Timber Haulage Trust

Cobus Botha Marriott Thistledown Properties

CP Todd-Ngubane Medpak Tiger Brands

Crucial Trade Memeen Robson Timothy Garvin

Diane Gething Meryl's School of Cooking Toni Schumann

Discovery Fund Mike Thomas Top International

Discovery Health Mr R Gyapersad Toyz Auto

Erica Verbaan Mrs H. M. Walker Waterfall Methodist Church

Fairways Drakensberg Gardens Mrs S Mc Adam Wave Paper

Gemelli Group Multilayer Trading Westfield Farming Estate

GES Myeni Natal Scale Company Westmead Cash and Carry

Gill Browne New Horizons Metal Willowton Group

Gill Dearman Optima Management Services Willy Miller

Glodina Patricia Hutton Woolworths Delcairn Centre

Helen Swanepoel Patrick Quinlan

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Foreign Donors

ENGAGE WITH US!

Adopt-A-Bed

There are 24 beds in the Respite Unit and not all beds are sponsored. We are appealing to organisa-

tions or individuals to join the Adopt-a-Bed programme and help keep the Respite Unit fully operational.

Sponsoring a bed costs R165 per day; R1200 per week and R5000 per month. We are grateful to our

major Adopt-a-Bed funders for their faithful support and commitment to the work of healing. Contact Lau-

rel on laurel@hillaids.org.za for further information.

Betty Lawes Foundation HACT UK (various donors) Peter Ikin & Isabel Blackett

Charities Aid Foundation Hospital Foundation Holland Stichting Ibafu

Cleaveland Clinic Nurses for Nurses Little Travellers Canada Stichting Rotterdam

F.O.I.L. UK Little Travellers Korea Villanova Nursing

Farnham UR Methodist Church Meridian Street Methodist Church

Goodwill & Growth for Africa UK Parish of Fleet

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INCOME STATEMENT (1 Oct 2013 to 31 Dec 2013)

SALES

COST OF SALES

INCOME GENERATION COST OF SALES

GROSS PROFIT / (LOSS)

*Please note that for accounting purposes GENERAL DONATIONS includes Adopt-a-Bed funds.

R 3 612 542.07

R 558 356.97

R 3 054 185.10

GENERAL DONATIONS * R 1 108 048.06

GRANTS R 1 267 211.63

ADMINISTRATION INCOME R 55 607.78

FEEDING SCHEME INCOME R 820.00

HOME BASED CARE INCOME R 596.49

HORTICULTURE & NURSERY INCOME R 109 247.93

INCOME GENERATION INCOME R 1 056 139.00

CLINIC INCOME R 8 411.22

RESPITE UNIT FUND INCOME R 179.76

SCHOOL FEE FUND INCOME R 6 280.20

R 558 356.97

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EXPENSES

NET PROFIT / (LOSS)

R 2 951 114.53

R 103 070.57

ADMINISTRATION EXPENSES R 615 781.69

COUNSELLING FUND EXPENSES R 212 417.43

EDUCATION/ CHILDRENS PROGRAMS EXPENSES R 308 961.88

FEEDING SCHEME EXPENSES R 23 600.03

GRANNIES SUPPORT GROUP EXPENSES R 100 977.67

HOME BASED CARE EXPENSES R 162 581.36

HORTICULTURE & NURSERY EXPENSES R 198 255.33

INCOME GENERATION EXPENSES R 428 852.93

CLINIC EXPENSES R 114 159.71

RESPITE UNIT FUND EXPENSES R 783 861.20

SCHOOL FEE FUND EXPENSES R 1 665.30

STAFF CONTACT DETAILS

CEO Olivia Myeza olivia@hillaids.org.za

Craft Paula Thomson wozamoya@hillaids.org.za

Education Sibusiso Mthethwa education@hillaids.org.za

Finance Angelique York finance@hillaids.org.za

Granny Groups Cwengi Myeni nurses@hillaids.org.za

HIV Counselling & Testing Rita Shange counselling@hillaids.org.za

Home-Based Care Sara Brown care@hillaids.org.za

Horticulture Thokozani Yika horticulture@hillaids.org.za

Marketing & Fundraising Laurel Oettlé laurel@hillaids.org.za

Nursing and Respite Unit Queen Zulu nurses@hillaids.org.za

respite@hillaids.org.za

General contact and all other matters: info@hillaids.org.za

“If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead

to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.”

- Nelson Mandela

Contact Us

Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust

26 Old Main Road P.O. Box 2474, Hillcrest 3650

Hillcrest, Kwa-Zulu Natal South Africa

Tel: (031) 765 5866 Email: info@hillaids.org.za

Visit us on the web at www.hillcrestaids.org.za

hillcrest.aids.centre.trust

Follow us on Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust

@Hillcrest_AIDS