10 years of HOPE Cape Town
In October 2011, HOPE Cape Town will be celebrating its first decade of existence. The NGO, which was officially launched at TAHC as HOPE – HIV Outreach Program and Education on the 29th of October 2001, is looking back on 10 years of providing treatment, counseling and training for children and adults infected and affected by HIV & AIDS. What started out as a humble joint venture between the German speaking Catholic Community, the Rotary Club of Signal Hill, University of Stellenbosch (Faculty of Health Sciences) and the Tygerberg Academic Health Complex supported by the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, has grown into a successful benchmark organisation with a number of high profile academic and private partners, both local and international.
HOPE Cape Town was instrumental in the foundation of the Ithemba Ward for Infectious Diseases (G7) and started out providing privately funded treatment and tertiary care for HIV positive children as one of the first initiatives in the country and long before the commencement of the national ARV rollout. Subsequently, the organization began training and deploying community health workers in various communities of drainage area of Tygerberg Hospital for patient follow-ups and recalls. Today, a total of 23 HOPE community health workers work in 19 low-income communities and primary health care facilities in the northern metropole.
HOPE Cape Town also pioneered a project involving traditional healers (iSangoma) in an attempt to overcome stigma and prejudices between Western medicine and traditional African healing practices. Grassroot project initiatives for community based income generation are supported by the organization which also conducts awareness workshops and outreaches on request. More recent projects include nutritional support for HIV and TB patients, e-learning, drug interactions of traditional medicines and HIV & sport activities. HOPE Cape Town is proudly partnering with academic institutions such as HS Niederrhein, TU Munich and the Medical Mission Institute Wuerzburg in Germany. A very popular elective rotation for international medical students is offered in partnership with KID-CRU (Children’s Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Unit) at TAHC.
HOPE Cape Town is grateful for the continuous support of its local partners including TAHC, Stellenbosch University (Faculty of Health Sciences as well as the health departments of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town. A big thank you also goes to all international and local sponsors and donors, big and small, without whom the organization’s work of the last decade would not have been possible. We are looking forward to the next 10 years!