Zambia
Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ)
In Progress
Acknowledged as an international leader in HIV/AIDS treatment and research as well as maternal and child health care, cervical cancer, malaria and tuberculosis treatment and research, CIDRZ remains rooted in approaching global health concerns on the community level first. CIDRZ is fast becoming a world-renowned resource for understanding infectious disease and for understanding medical research breakthroughs.
After being approached by leaders of their international team, DIG has began working to more effectively address the nutritional and drug compliance needs of their HIV positive patients. Five gardens will be established at designated clinics in and around Lusaka with a specific focus on HIV positive mothers. A minimum of 25 home gardens are also scheduled for implementation and will be extended to motivated participants of the selected facility sites.
Kafue District Hospital
This is a very large garden being developed primarily by the ART support group, with a portion designated for mothers in the PMTCT (prevention of mother to child transmission) and nutrition (underweight under-5s) support group. The ART support group had previously started a garden but were thwarted by cow invasions and water problems, and they were more than happy to revive their previous efforts with our help. The most significant thing is that, in cooperation with CIDRZ and the hospital, we are purchasing a submersible pump to put on one of the hospital's boreholes to guarantee a year-round consistent supply of water to the garden.
Railway Clinic
From the very start, the staff at Railway clinic were extremely supportive and enthusiastic about the garden project. They have donated a good-sized piece of land that was previously used to grow maize and sweet potatoes. We are working with a group selected by the clinic that is a combination of women in the PMTCT and nutrition support groups and community members. Railway is very centrally located in Kafue town and serves a geographically large population area.
Kafue Estates
Kafue Estates is fairly close to Kafue District Hospital, but it is a clinic with a specific catchment area, whereas the hospital sees patients from all throughout the district. Estates is a very densely populated area where people have little space to grow gardens close to their homes, although there is plenty of land surrounding the housing development. Estates was originally built as housing for employees at the factories in town that are now less than functional; currently it serves as affordable housing for a varied population. The garden at Estates clinic will be quite small, but we are hoping to use urban gardening techniques to demonstrate how to improve production even with limited space. There is a large group of people from both the ART support group and the PMTCT and nutrition support groups who are interested in participating in this garden.
Nangongwe
Nangongwe is similar to Kafue Estates in that it is a densely populated area that was originally designed for housing for factory workers. The garden will be based in the Mother and Child Health division of the clinic and will be managed by a group of community members that will include HIV+ men and women, mothers, and others.
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