The Department of Social Development and South African National AIDS Council Project:
ARRC NPCs Social and Behaviour Change project with the Department of Social Development (DSD) and the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) had concluded in December 2021. ARRC was contracted to provide a social and behaviour change programme in five provinces (namely, the Eastern Cape, North West, Western Cape, Mpumalanga and Gauteng). The programme intended to address the vulnerability of people with disabilities to HIV infection and to remove barriers to access HIV/AIDS and general wellness services.
The programme imparted knowledge on social and behaviour change (SBC) and HIV prevention as well as support initiatives to develop the capacity of people with disability for effective and efficient access to services needed. The programme further brought about behaviour change and created awareness by training people with disability as Peer Supporters; to support and educate other people with disability on matters regarding sexual reproductive health as well as Non-Communicable Diseases, Tuberculosis, and healthy lifestyles.
Despite challenges due to Covid-19 Lockdown restrictions, our provincial facilitators had managed to continue their much-needed work, providing health information and services to the community, and had exceeded their expected targets. Over the course of the four-phase project, 4587 individuals were reached.
A big thank you to our provincial facilitators who made the necessary arrangements to ensure everyone’s safety during that time! This extends to the rest of the team for making the project possible, as well as our sponsors, DSD and SANAC.
More information regarding the project and targets reached can be found in our Annual Report.
The Department of Higher Education and Training:
Funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), ARRC was contracted to develop a Module on Disability for the training of Life Orientation lecturers at TVET Colleges. ARRC has also facilitated several pilot workshops with Life Orientation lecturers under the programme.
Bold Moves Peer Support Training:
Dr Jacques Lloyd, Sherwin Gerwell and Vernon Openshaw facilitated a 5-day Motivation Peer Support training at Summit Rehab, Mediclinic Muelmed, Pretoria during September 2017.
10 Bold Moves members with spinal cord injuries participated in the workshop. The workshop covered topics ranging from Peer Support, Communication skills and basic counselling through spinal cord injury, Skin, bladder and bowel care, Wheelchair skills, Assistive devices and Adaptation and transfer skills to HIV, AIDS, Sexually transmitted infections, Tuberculosis, Disability rights and Advocacy, and Networking and Partnerships.
The workshop also included presentations by representatives from Coloplast and Bard Care as well as a motivational talk from Bongathini Mbatha, author of ‘I Don’t Want to Walk Again’. The workshop launched the PEERS ON WHEELS ENHANCING RECOVERY project that utilises a website as a communication platform through which a discharged spinal cord injury service user can get in touch with a Peer Supporter in their area.
Completed Projects & Programmes
- Consultant to the Department of Higher Education to establish support systems at educational facilities for students with disability.
- Manual development: Integrating Disability Awareness into the Life Orientation Curriculum at TVET Colleges.
- UCT Community Rehab Care Worker Curriculum • development and training.
- National sector representative for people with disabilities on South African National AIDS Council (SANAC).
- Contributed to the further development of the South African National Strategic Plan on HIV, TB and STIs 2017-2022 by ensuring the inclusion of services for people with disabilities.
- Draft Disability Sector Plan development.
- National round table disability research task team research, monitoring and evaluation at the office of the President of South Africa.
- Co-founder of the “Save our Soles” disability empowerment project.
- Played a major role in the current roll-out of the National Wellness Programme.
- ALIGHT Gender violence project in Botswana.
- Senecio woman and children with disability.
- Between 2010 and 2013, ARRC facilitated the national roll-out of the QuadPara Association of South Africa’s (QASA) Rolling Positive Sexual Reproductive Health and Peer Support training programme.
- In mid-2018, ARRC completed research on Spinal Tuberculosis for the University Research Company, USA.
- National Department of Health Disability and Rehabilitation Task Team representative contributing to the further development of the Framework and Strategy on Disability and Rehabilitation.
In Proud Partnership with the following organisations:
arrc-npc.org.za 