HIV Awareness and Counselling Project
Africa’s battle with HIV/AIDS is without doubt one of the greatest problems facing the continent today. Ghana has been praised for its active campaigns to educate people about the realities of the virus, but an estimated 350,000 people here were living with HIV in 2003 – and that number is now widely believed to have doubled.
Our HIV counselling projects are based at the regional hospital in Cape Coast. Even though the projects are based here you will find that you will spend part of your time travelling around the area meeting people living with HIV and AIDS.
People with HIV and AIDS living in Ghana have a very tough time. The disease carries a huge amount of stigma, as it does in many parts of the world. People living with HIV and AIDS include the families of people who have been diagnosed with the illness. Even though they too may not be infected, they are also shunned by the communities in which they live.
You will spend your first week on an induction programme, learning how to counsel people living with HIV and AIDS, learning about your role and how the patients should correctly use the anti-viral drugs
A large part of your work will be to visit people living with HIV and AIDS on a daily basis so that they do not feel completely ostracized by the community. Your role will be to counsel them, which will often just involve lending an ear to chat about their hopes, fears or what’s happening in their daily life.
Coupled with this your role will also be to help educate them on making behavioural and lifestyle changes to help prevent the transmission of the infection, manage their health and monitor their health and wellbeing.
You will also spend time working with local community youth groups to help with sex education in the context of West African culture – how lifestyle changes can alter their risk of infection.
The HIV Awareness and Counselling Project is only available in combination with our medical or orphanage programmes in Ghana or as a 2-week summer special.
This combined project costs £200 more than the medical programme and goes directly towards the cost of the project itself. This goes towards such things as buying materials, arranging venues for the workshops and transport on the project.
All costs shown above are for one month. Additional months can be added for £595.
You choose your start date but spaces throughout the year are limited so reserve your space now.
Why are some dates cheaper than others? Our pricing policy explained.