Ecological agriculture, HIV/AIDS
(source: "JVC Annual Report - 2008 report / 2009 plan", Mar 2010)
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Program background
In South Africa 15 years have passed since the end
of apartheid (racial segregation) in 1994. However, the structure
of the society has not changed where a North-South gap of wealth
distribution continues to exist and the unemployment rate among
the indigenous black people is still high at 60%. The economy
which had been growing at a rate of 5% per year declined to -
1.8% in the forth quarter of 2008, due to the worldwide recession.
This led to massive layoffs in mines and other places, revealing
the weakness of the economic base, which de-pends solely on investment
and mineral resources.
In addition, 12% of the population in South Africa
has been infected with HIV, with more than 1000 people dying from
AIDS every day. Losing wage-earners on top of rising commodity
price is further adding to the diffi-culties of poor families.
Under such circumstances, JVC is helping people to
lead a stable life through agriculture and is also supporting
people who take action against HIV and AIDS.
Summary of activities
1. Rural development
In rural areas where agriculture declined under apartheid,
we have been working since 2001 on spreading ecological agriculture
in nine villages in Cala region of the Eastern Cape province.
Through this effort, we are aiming to help local people to re-vive
agriculture and to make stable food production. Through a one
and a half year follow-up period star-ted in 2007, we conducted
a Training of Trainers (TOT) for the farmers who had performed
well, with an aim to promote "farmers who can sustain their activities
on their own and spread them to newco-mers."
2008 Annual Report
As a follow-up activity to the TOT conducted in 2007,
we organized workshops in four regions (seven villages) from January
to May 2008. As a result, al-though there was some regional variation,
we found out there were 18 new practitioners of farming in Rebelskloof
village, where six female trainers were working together to train
people. When the program was evaluated in August, we identified
a total of 61 new practitioners in seven villages. At a meeting
of farmers to share their experiences, which doubled as a completion
ceremony for the TOT program, 19 farmers were commended as outstanding
trainers.
Recently in South Africa, Genetically Modified Or-ganisms
(GMO) and Massive Food Production (MFP), which use lots of pesticides
and chemical herbicides, have been introduced by the government
and large enterprises, as part of the policy to increase food
production for poor farmers. In November the villages where we
conduct activities were visited, with a South African NGO that
makes policy recom-mendations, and study meetings on GMO were
held and information exchanged with the practitioners.
2. HIV/AIDS
In South Africa, 12% of the population (5.7 million
people) has been infected with HIV. HIV/AIDS has a particularly
severe effect amongst poor people and children. However, the response
of the South African government has been slow. Especially in rural
villages where there is little aid or information, large numbers
of people are unable to receive care or medical treatment. Considering
these circumstances, JVC launched a joint project in 2005 with
Japanese NGO SHARE (Service for the Health in Asian and African
Regions) which specializes in health care.
2008 Annual Report
Continuing from 2007, we cooperated with the local NGO Pholoshong, in the Capricorn district in Limpo-po province. In November we evaluated the project and confirmed successful results in each activity.
(1)Vegetable Garden Training
For people living with HIV and AIDS (PWA), nutri-tion is essential in order not to develop AIDS. We conducted Vegetable Garden Training for community volunteers involved with lunch service centers for orphans and visiting care services. As a result, volunteers are now able to supply vegetables to PWA and children in the community.
(2)Training for the Home Visiting Care Givers
These volunteers support PWA in the community. We conducted follow-up training to the treatment and counseling training conducted in 2007. We learned about necessary information through confirming how acquired knowledge was applied and identifying the challenges in the activities.
(3)Treatment Literacy Training
We provided a gathering place for PWA, who tend to become isolated, and provided knowledge about the treatment. After we conducted follow-up training to the 2007 training for 19 people, four PWA are now actively working as training instructors.
(4)Peer Education on HIV/AIDS for Young People
We conducted HIV/AIDS peer education training for a group of about 30 young people through a drama performance. Up until that point, there had been no HIV/AIDS peer education for people in their late teens as they are becoming sexually ac-tive. We confirmed that awareness and knowledge related to HIV/AIDS prevention were significantly improved among the participants through these activities.
2009 Annual Plan
In the evaluation report for the project con-ducted in 2008, we confirmed positive results in each activity, include training, but also confirmed that we need some more follow-up training until the project goals are accomplished. In response to this evaluation, we will conduct two main activities as follows for a one-year follow-up period in 2009.
(1)Vegetable Garden Training
We will conduct training with a focus on three points: Seed and seedling cultivation related to sustainable agriculture, training on securing the water, and nutrition needed to support children and PWA.
(2)Training on AIDS treatment for home vi-siting care volunteers and PWA
We will conduct training with focus not only on the medical aspects of AIDS but also on the social aspects such as the rights of PWAe and how to deal with specific problems.
Action Research
In Soweto (formerly a black neighborhood) near Johannesburg, we plan to conduct Vegetable Garden Training for local people, using land at a junior high school in the area. Local people had already started growing vegetable gardens for the purpose of provid-ing vegetables for children who can't pay for school lunch. We will aim to build a good relationship with local people by supporting these efforts, to collect information and conduct research on the community and to decide the direction of our activities after 2010.
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