Strengthening the Response to HIV/AIDS at the Community Level

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Associations of PLWHA

In 2001, the ACI health team decided to focus increasingly on the development of skills of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and their associations to provide improved care and support and ensure their full participation in the response to the epidemic. With this goal in mind, ACI developed a process of skills building that focuses on:

Building the skills of individual PLWHA (living positively, visibility, life skills, organizational management skills, advocacy skills)
Improving management of PLWHA associations (strengthening associative management, transparency and leadership, strengthening team spirit, developing partnerships, preparing proposals and mobilizing resources, etc)
Strengthening program skills (developing an increased understanding of their roles, responsibilities and position in the structure of the response to HIV and AIDS on the national and regional level; improving the use of their unique skills and insights in the development and implementation of projects)

The members of the ACI Health Team use a variety of strategies to reach their goals. These include coaching, individual and group training sessions, and practical application of skills developed.

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Poles of Excellence

Through its highly acclaimed Poles of Excellence program, the ACI Health Department works to increase knowledge and provide on-going skills building for numerous Senegalese NGOs, associations and community-based organizations working in the field of HIV/AIDS and reproductive health in Senegal.

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ACI began the Poles of Excellence in March 1997 with initial funding from the USAID-financed AIDSCAP/FHI project and subsequent support from Lutheran World Relief. Prior to its launch, ACI Director Gary Engelberg had helped to develop the HIV and Development training model for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The Poles of Excellence program adopted that model to continue the AIDSCAP-sponsored training that ACI was providing for NGOs and associations. The Poles of Excellence program ensures the sustainability of vital activities and helps maintain and expand local responses to the epidemic.

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The Poles of Excellence program has continued and expanded since its inception in 1997. Today, ACI’s five caseworkers provide assistance and training to community-based organizations in the regions of Dakar, Fatick, Kaffrine, Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Sedhiou, Thies and Ziguinchor. To date, we have assisted over 100 community groups including women's groups, in-school and out of school youth associations, associations of people living with HIV, agriculture and development associations, networks of community educators, and literacy groups. ACI’s caseworkers, who ensure on-going technical assistance for these groups, have also been involved in consultations to strengthen similar groups in the remaining regions of Senegal.

Through the training, materials and guidance received from ACI, these NGOs and other organizations have become resources for other groups working on HIV/AIDS response in the same geographic area. The ACI Poles of Excellence organizations are now sources of information, advice, training and support materials for other smaller awareness-raising organizations and associations. This indigenous technical assistance has developed with little additional outside funding. It has created a steadily growing, informal network of organizations that mobilizes for the rapid dissemination of accurate health-related information and the facilitation of community discussions of health-related issues by individuals who are familiar with and credible to the local people.

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