The project will aim to empower women and sensitize men on health rights of women. The prevalence rate of HIV among children in Ndamera is high. Mother-to-child transmission is the main mode of acquisition of HIV among children. The Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Program (PMTCT) is being implemented to control the spread. Research shows that most men in the area restrict women from getting HIV tested due to cultural reasons.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Nsanje
Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.
Working with the women in Ndamera will help to empower them. It will sensitize men to let women make decisions on issues regarding their own health. This will help improve their attitudes and hence the number of Children born with HIV will decrease. Women will be able to go for testing without being restricted hence subscribe to PMTCT if need be. Videos will be created and shared online so other NGO working on PMTCT in the area can access them.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
Stories of women citing the importance of subscribing to PMTCT services will be filmed. Men with better attitudes regarding the health rights of women will also tell their stories on film encouraging men with wrong attitudes to change. Videos will be shared on a blog/social media so that NGOs working on PMTCT have access to use them in their sensitization campaigns. Videos will also be shown to the community on projectors to help change attitudes
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established that will contribute to the success of the project.
An NGO called Friends of AIDS Support Trust (FAST) operating in the area has agreed to partner with us. They have structures in the area which we aim to use to conduct the workshops. We will also work with CBOs, traditional leaders and religious leaders to ensure sustainability of the project. We will also partner with an NGO called Touch Organisation who will help with video/documentary production.
How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?
We aim work with about 20 participants in the workshops. 10 men and 10 women. The group attending the workshops will include Traditional Leaders, Religious leaders, selected members of CBOs and local men and women in the area who will randomly be selected. The wider Ndamera community will also be engaged in the film shows we intend to carry out.
Besides the microgrant funding, what other resources and support are you seeking for your project to ensure its success?
A projector which will be used to show the filmed videos in the workshops and to the local community.
Contact name
Manuel Malamba
Organization
Human Rights Eye
5 comments
I think this is a great idea. Mothers in patriarchal tribes are oppressed in Malawi. This will definitely give them a voice.
Great project!!! hopefully it will work fine!
I strongly recommend this good gesture that will save many live of oppressed women in Ndamera, Nsanje District in Malawi. Apart from the fact that Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, Nsanje District is also one of the poorest districts in Malawi. Poverty in the district is beyond measure and lack of quality education and exposure to to modern technology, causes cultural briefs to take lead in the area. This project I believe will save many women from pre mature deaths in the area.
I am sure that what you have proposed is all good to Malawi in general not only in Nsanje.
and let us pray for the positive grant offer
amen!!!!
PMTCT in general is a concept that women in Nsanje and Malawi in general are willing to embrace in order to protect their well-being of their babies. However, access to such services has been limited for most women because of the negative attitudes of men towards PMTCT process as well as the surbodinate roles that women play in their families. This project will help empower women to be able to stand up to their men and make them understand the importance of PMTC and the need for them to participate in such processes and protect the woman and the baby.