Hope Humana

Hope Humana is a community-based grassroots movement that works with the communities it serves to reduce the rate of new HIV infection, provide voluntary counseling and testing services, form support groups, and care for those who are HIV-positive. The heart of a Hope project is the Hope Center, which serves as a headquarters for the operation as well as a community meeting center.

A Hope Program is comprised of the following elements:

Contact and Training Services

Seminars, training, and workshops that build capacity as well as effective community development activities.  In this part of the program, courses are also given to increase awareness of HIV among vulnerable populations such as migrant workers, commercial sex workers, truck drivers and youth.

Health Services

In order to improve health among beneficiaries, Hope provides need-based health services.  These include: on-site and in-field HIV testing, referrals to other HIV testing sites, STI testing, and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programs, antenatal clinics and general health advice.  Hope centers have trained counselors for those who wish to learn more about HIV/AIDS or be tested, and staff is available for both group and individual counseling.

Operational Research

Through surveys, analysis and testing, Hope staff and volunteers are actively engaged in research to determine the best methods for preventing the spread of HIV and providing care to those already infected.  Activities in this part of the program are coordinated with local and international health authorities and other organizations who have a vested interest in maknig a positive difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Opinion-Forming Activities

Hope projects strive to involve entire communities in the fight against HIV/AIDS.  Staff at the projects arrange meetings with local policymakers and leaders as well as local media in order to address the issues related to HIV/AIDS including the stigmatization of those who are infected.

Outreach Programs

In addition to activities conducted at the Hope center, Hope projects conduct outreach activities in the field.  These activities include, but are not limited to: field HIV testing, condom distributions, condom demostrations and the distribution of informational materials related to HIV/AIDS.  The outreach programs related to Hope project also include school programs, workplace programs and youth clubs that seek to motivate and mobilize different sectors of the population.

Planet Aid currently supports Hope programs in: Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

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