Working on Philippine Care and Support Services
for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs)

This project is being supported by the Ford Foundation, Philippines. This is one year project as RAF prepares to with its Care and Support service delivery among people living with HIV/AIDS. The project has three components namely: Capability Building, Publications and the Durban AIDS Conference Exhibit Booth.

A group of six (6) Filipino caregivers, including RAF's Executive Director and Clinic Manager, went on a 2-week study tour visit to Indonesia and Thailand to observe day-to-day operations of care and support projects in these countries. Learnings gained from this study tour will eventually be helpful in setting-up the Philippine Care and Support Service model for Filipinos living with HIV and AIDS.

Apart from this study tour, RAF will venture into development of publications on Care and Support manuals namely : Counseling Manual on HIV/AIDS and Exploring Alternative and Complimentary Therapy for persons living with HIV/AIDS. Consultant writers were contracted to do the write up as well as the consultations among various key stakeholders. The said publications will be released by September 2001.

A regional consultative workshop was conducted to validate manual's content. The project hopes that the manuals will be out by the second quarter of 2001. RAF has produced the Philippine NGO Directory for the year 2000. It contains contact details/information of various NGOs working in RH nationwide. A listing of current programs were likewise mentioned. RAF contracted the Commission on Filipino Language to do the translation of the Republic Act 8504, or AIDS Law as well as the Implementing rules and guidelines (IRR) . The said manuals were produced this August 2001.

Two RAF representatives were sent to Durban South Africa in charge of the Exhibit Booth in time for the 13^th International AIDS Conference in Durban South Africa last 9-14 July 2000. The Exhibit Booth is a partnership project of RAF and Yayasan Galang Indonesia. The booth displayed a wooden panel and depicts one scene how culture and HIV/AIDS are dealt with in both countries. About 5, 000 delegates visited the booth and were able to received various IEC materials produced by both countries on HIV/AIDS.

With the tremendous success of this initiative, for the third year in a row, RAF and Yayasan Galang Indonesia will set up another Exhibit booth Initiative in October 2001, in time for the 6^th ICAAP to be be held in Melbourne Australia.