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Integrated Nutrition Programme (INP)

As part of the integrated management of childhood illnesses (IMCI), volunteers were trained in growth monitoring and promotion (GMP) and in The 16 Key Family Practices. Community Based Organisations and volunteers were trained at the Owen Sithole College of Agriculture in crop and vegetable production for food security. In the four sites where the INP is implemented, community bases have been set up for purposes of ensuring capacity where it is needed. Active participation of the beneficiaries is encouraged in order to ensure sustainability of the intervention.

	Inspection of a clinic garden is done by a clinic member, the clinic sister and a facilitator from the Health Systems Trust. The main objective of these gardens is to demonstrate the value of growing food for household food security. Undernourished children, and people with TB and HIV receive nourishment at these clinics through these gardens.
Growing a variety of vegetables in the clinic vegetable gardens, demonstrates the importance of food diversification.
	A community member collects vegetables for a TB patient with assistance of the nutrition volunteer. Each clinic has two volunteers who are trained by the Health Systems Trust on in the proper growth and preparation of vegetables for optimum nutrition.

Through the involvement of other sectors in the project, material resources such as fencing, seedlings and garden tools have been received from the Departments of Health and Agriculture

Achievements To Date

The integrated nutrition programme has managed to bring together most of the stakeholders required to ensure that the programme serves as a catalyst for communities to engage government in developmental activities. The programme therefore has managed to move beyond &lsquonutrition&rsquo into development-oriented interventions. Through the multi-sectoral task teams, it has succeeded to unlock and tap into material and technical expertise at the local level. Financial and material resources from other sectors and potential partners are making it possible to look beyond Kellogg funding, therefore, ensuring sustainability and integration of programmes.

Through community participation the government sector has been brought closer to the people thus leading to participatory planning and joint decision-making. The project has turned policy into action at the community level and in the process has influenced positive reaction and support at provincial government level.

The Provincial Departments of Health in both the Eastern Cape Province and Kwazulu-Natal are planning to roll out the INP project to other areas in their respective provinces.

The Male Sexual and Reproductive Health Project

is aimed at encouraging and supporting the growth of a social movement around HIV/AIDS through the promotion of male involvement in sexual and reproductive health issues. The project is implemented in three districts, Umkhanyakude in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Ehlanzeni in Mpumalanga, and Odi (Winterveldt sub-district) in North West Province.

Community Based Organisations implement interventions, which are aimed at mobilising males to be involved in the fight against the epidemic. The principle of making CBOs accountable to local structures is an important one in that it promotes ownership of the project and local decision-making

Overall findings of the formative research and baseline survey have highlighted the impact of cultural issues on the spread of HIV/AIDS. These results have been used to inform the development of the training guide, interventions and health promotion materials.

The following interventions have been implemented:

• Workshops and campaigns to promote on-going dialogue amongst males on SRH, STIs and HIV/AIDS in the formal sectors (schools, churches, regular community meetings, sports clubs etc) and the informal sector (stokvels, burial societies taverns).
• Establishing and or strengthening discussion/peer support groups for:
  • Men, youth, parents/partners
  • Voluntary Counselling and Testing (campaigns)
  • Promotion and distribution of condoms
  • Distribution of HIV/AIDS and SRH educational material
  • Securing leadership support
  • Radio talks on HIV/AIDS
  • Networking with other organisations at local, regional and national levels.

Training of CBOs and Volunteers

One week training workshops on HIV/AIDS and STIs were conducted for the CBOs and male volunteers on sexual and reproductive health issues. This was done through a training guide compiled and designed by HST, which was adopted from various training manuals. The purpose of these workshops was to build capacity in the male volunteers on knowledge, communication and understanding of gender and SRH issues. The workshops covered the modules on Sex & Gender, the Language of Sex, Gender Based Violence, Analysis of Sexual and Reproductive Health problems, and Voluntary Testing and Counselling. The participants, through participatory approaches, were able to relate the training to their own social and cultural backgrounds, and also developed locally used and socially acceptable sexual terms.