By Jackson Mbogela

The Netherlands

 

I was reading one of the PIUMA documents and realized its mission statement. The mission states that “ PIUMA seeks to offer People who have been affected or infected by HIV/AIDS the love, protection and support by enlightening Human Rights and creating a social justice community that respects the right of those who have not been infected, the HIV positive and the varsity majority who does not know their status”.

 

In this mission I was surprised why the uninfected and why the varsity majority who does not know their status?

 

When I was thinking much further I realized the HIV/AIDS battle needs well cooperated and organized efforts from people with different background and with different perspective views.

 

It is important that in order to win this battle against HIV/AIDS, all people from different cadres be involved. Given equal chance to make contribution, or given favourable environment.

 

PIUMA has regarded PLHA in Makete have been marginalized according to the definition of marginalisation as the process through which persons are peripheralized by a dominant, central majority.

 

Scholars say that has to do with the social, political, and personal construction of boundaries, deciding who controls and maintains these boundaries, and who is permitted inside.

 

The fight against HIV in Makete has been a difficult task because people who are in high rank of decision making position do not wish to share their responsibilities with other stake holders in the field.

 

At beginning of this year a volunteer from Canada working with PIUMA wanted to know how much is the share of the government in the fight against HIV in the district. He asked PIUMA for the information.

 

The next day PIUMA took initiative to find the District Medical Officer (DMO) and required from him the amount the government invest on health sector in the district. The Medical officer neither gave them the figure nor what has it been achieved from what they got.

 

Tendency to hide information regarding with income and expenditure for HIV/AIDS Intervention program has become like culture in Makete and Tanzania in general.

 

In 2006 PIUMA has to complained as far as to the Prime Minister regarding with this tendency from the government staff.

 

The worst situation is when the people of white cloth too, the servants of GOD, Pastors and bishops had had fallen into this trap of not disclosing public funds.

 

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania , South Central Diocese (ELCT-SCD)  is administering a project for HIV in cooperation with Family Health International (FHI). American Tax payers fund have been injected into this project. Do other people in the field know anything?

 

We only hear that the project is achieving the best, however they have never said how much the project will cost? This is important for assessment purposes by simply comparing  the outcome from the gains. The patients who are benefiting from these projects have never known how much is been spent on their health and welfare. Which I think undermines the value of the intervention program and initiatives.

 

The same diocese runs another project with the name Local Community Competence Building for HIV/AIDS –(LCCB).

 

The project is financed by funds from the European Union. But how many knows how much is going in and how much is spent? NO ONE KNOWS

 

This is very difficult to understand, how can an officers entrusted with such projects go around boosting themselves that they are doing a very good job on HIV in Makete? Why are issues concerned with finances are becoming a TOP SECRET?  It is easy; show Income expenditures statement, that is all.

 

Sharing of information is very important for the reason that all stake holder can measure if the intervention was effective. PIUMA are always concerned on Cost benefit, want to see if the project was real necessary? And what are the tangible benefit harvested from the intervention program. And think of improvement if necessary.

 

Organisation working into the field of HIV in Makete are asked to include people living with HIV and AIDS from their planning, implementation, and evaluation of their intervention programs. This will help into reducing stigma and discrimination and hence bring more effectiveness of the intervention project.

We are appealing for participatory approach not only to the government, we are intending to mean to all organisation who have a stake in Makete, like the church, the mission abroad and other NGO operating in the district.

 

Fact and figure on the infection rate, prevalence and incidence of HIV/AIDS in Makete together with the magnitude of Orphans, widow and widower in the district are well narrated.

 

Information regarding with how much do different organisation involved into combating HIV/AIDS in the district had never been disclosed neither by the government, church, indigenous people nor by wazungu in Makete. Even those who are operating from Europe, still do not want to be as transparency as European society are  perceived to be in the eyes of the international community.

 

Talking about HIV/AIDS Cash in Makete it is like struggling to make  nightmare come true.

 

Nidekile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 6:37 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.