Volunteer abroad in AIDS projects in South Africa

VTSAAIDS1

Volunteers here are welcome for a minimum of 2 weeks.

This project involves working in several healthcare facilities to assist HIV/AIDS sufferers and to educate the local community on prevention and care. There is an AIDS clinic that cares and provides antiretroviral therapy for 900 HIV-positive adults and children, a provincial hospital, a mobile clinic that provides counselling and HIV testing and a hospice.

There is a team that includes counsellors, nurses, dieticians, social workers and doctors. Volunteers are needed for:

• Clinic observations and assistance
• Data capture
• Measuring the weight of patients and checking adherence to therapy
• Developing and assisting with HIV/AIDS workshops in the local community
• Assisting with home-based care

Professional medical and nursing staff will need to be registered with the South African government regulatory bodies in order to perform invasive procedures and tasks. Specific tasks within the program may vary and volunteers may have to work on new or updated versions of the above tasks. A degree of flexibility is necessary to adapt to changing local needs.