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| Project Name: | MicroCredit and Health Education for HIV/AIDS-Affected Women and Children in the Valley of the Widows. |
| Project Description: |
To counter the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS in Maradi area of Niger, CARE proposes the two-year initiative Support for AIDS-Affected Women and Children in the Valley of the Widows. The goal of the project is to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS and its physical, social and economic consequences for at least 7,200 women and children in the Bouza District by the year 2006. To achieve this goal, CARE will:
Create 120 all-female Mata Masu Dubara savings groups, primarily made up of AIDS widows and women affected by HIV/AIDS, in the Bouza District;
Improve the economic, health and social status of at least 7,200 women and children in the Bouza District, whose migrant husbands and fathers put them at greater risk of contracting HIV/AIDS;
Disseminate CARE HIV/AIDS education and training materials to the 25 participating villages (with an estimated population of 79,000 people);
Encourage positive attitude and behavior change vis--vis HIV/AIDS education in 25 villages within the Bouza District, thereby reducing the stigmatization of women;
Develop a network of Mata Masu Dubara groups that will strengthen the collective voice of women in the region to advocate for improved HIV/AIDS services and a better social status;
Create a cadre of at least 120 Village Agents, or female leaders, who are responsible for outreach and the formation of additional savings and loan groups with an HIV/AIDS component; and
Strengthen the long-term sustainability of local HIV/AIDS services by increasing the capacity of local organizations such as ESPOIR. CARE's primary partner in the project will be ESPOIR, a young Nigerien nongovernmental organization dedicated to confronting the AIDS epidemic and its effects on individuals, households and communities. ESPOIR was formed by an inspirational group of Nigerien women, many of whom are HIV/AIDS widows themselves, who share a growing concern about the devastating toll of HIV/AIDS. ESPOIR helps people living with AIDS (those with the disease, their families and friends) join forces to offer one another psychological and social support, home-based care and access to medications for opportunistic infections. ESPOIR recently established, with financial support from CARE, an HIV/AIDS voluntary testing and counseling center in Niamey, the country's capital, and runs, in collaboration with CARE, two health programs in Niger, all of which will be used in this project. CARE and ESPOIR will collaborate on all of the program's activities to ensure that the program is ultimately locally-driven and locally sustainable. |
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