Stories of Systemic Change
(This marks the second in a series of 10 Vincentian family projects that will be described by Fr. Robert Maloney, Chair of the Systemic Change initiative in the Vincentian Family.)
2. Project DREAM РAs the 1,000th baby born to HIV-positive women receiving treatment, Jọozinho has become a symbol of Project DREAM Project DREAM. By working in collaboration with the local government and by building trust and abilities within local communities, Project DREAM promotes systemic change both from without and from within.
Project DREAM, which stands for Drug Resource Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition, is a program designed to help prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS from an infected mother to her newborn child. Like other children born in the program before and since, Joãozinho now has the chance to lead a healthy life. He also has another reason to rejoice as he faces the future: his mother is alive and healthy and will take care of him in the years to come. Treatment helped her so much that, as her medication was phased down, her immune system became almost normal.
DREAM is a collaborative project. The Community of Sant’Egidio and the Daughters of Charity are partnering in it in five countries: Mozambique, Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon, and the Congo. The Community of Sant’Egidio also collaborates with other religious communities to offer DREAM in five more countries: Malawi, Tanzania, Angola, Guinea, Conakry and Guinea Bissau.
Within the program itself, mothers are treated with highly active anti-retroviral therapy, and DREAM monitors and seeks to improve their health so that they are well enough to care for their families. The program is holistic, with components directed toward education, HIV/AIDS prevention, drug treatment, ongoing care, balanced nutrition, and personal counseling. For the participants, the program is free of cost.
To ensure the self-sustainability of the program, Project DREAM trains local personnel to run the centers; this also helps build bonds of trust within the local community. The project works in collaboration with the nations that host it. In each country, an agreement with the Ministry of Health is signed to assure the government’s cooperation and support for DREAM.
DREAM’s trained staff members have now seen more than 55,000 patients. They have accompanied 5,500 women throughout their pregnancies and for years afterwards. Almost all these mothers are still alive, and almost all their children have been born HIV-free. Among DREAM’s ongoing patients are over 2,500 children.
By working in collaboration with the local government and by building trust and abilities within local communities, Project DREAM promotes systemic change both from without and from within.
http://dream.santegidio.org/homep.asp?Curlang=EN
Tags: Anti-poverty strategies, Featured, Health
