Phelang Community Centre

for comprehensive HIV and AIDS care, treatment and support

Raising awareness through wearing t-shirtsThe health of the communities living in Ba-Phalaborwa is at risk from the combined threats of HIV and poverty. Palabora Foundation has chosen to tackle the HIV problem hand-in-hand with the government by setting up the Phelang Community Centre, which provides a wide range of services. In addition to its HIV programme, the Foundation runs the Bana Pele project which helps orphans and vulnerable children to obtain social grants and food relief.

The Ba-Phalaborwa HIV/AIDS Awareness programme has been recognized as one of the most effective programmes in the province.

HIV and AIDS programme

What we do

The Ba-Phalaborwa HIV & AIDS Awareness Programme was started at the beginning of 2001. The programme offers the following services:

HIV/AIDS support group

The support groupThe HIV/AIDS Support Group is responsible for a wide range of services:

Most activities are run from the Phelang Community Centre, which is next to the Foundation's administration centre in Namakgale.

The HIV/Aids Support Group meets every month to plan and review progress of their work. Through the Support Group, there are now community support structures at 16 electoral wards and about 20 farms, with approximately 150 volunteers who work with the Palabora Foundation, the Department of Health and Social Development, other NGOs and local government.

Free nutritional supplements

Foskor Limited donates nutritional supplements which are given to old and new Support Group members at the Phelang Community Centre.

Free condoms

The Phelang Community Centre is also the centralised distribution point for male and female condoms to approximately 40 different sites in the area.

Awareness education

Support group members receiving information to help promote awarenessThe Support Group visits homes, schools, prisons, churches, farms, military bases, taverns, shebeens and any other places where there is a need to educate people on the risks of HIV and how to avoid infection.

There are 33 community peer group educators who play a valuable role when visiting high risk areas. Between them, they are able to reach thousands of people every year in the area. They provide:

Local antiretroviral (ARV) treatment

Part of the ARV displayUntil 2005, patients needing ARV treatment had to travel a difficult 100km to the Letaba Regional Hospital. In 2005, the Phelang Community Centre (Palabora Foundation) and the Khanyisa Clinic (Maphuta Malatji District Hospital) were given accreditation by the National Department of Health and Social Development to roll-out antiretroviral therapy treatment (ARV). Treatment is now more accessible to local communities and better managed through the support structures set up by the Phelang Community Centre.

Home based care

The Home Based Care (HBC) group has doubled in size since 2002 and provides a valuable service to thousands of patients in the community. Of those, a proportion are referred to the Phelang Community Centre for help, with a smaller number being referred to the Department of Health and Social Development for social assistance, consultation and treatment. The most serious cases are referred to the hospital for medical treatment.

The Department of Health and Social Development has donated home based care kits to the various home based care sites.

Community vegetable gardens

A community gardenThanks to funding from the National Development Agency, two community vegetable gardens have been established by the Foundation. The projects included the sinking of boreholes, erection of water tanks, fencing off of the property and the purchase of farming equipment and seeds.

Bana Pele project

The Bana Pele project, assisted by funding from the National Development Agency, assists orphans and vulnerable children to register with the Department of Social Development for social grants and food relief. Services include:

Many of the children have no birth certificate, so the project helps with registration at the Department of Home Affairs as a first step towards social grants. As well as birth certificates, the Foundation assists with foster grants, child support grants, and food parcels.

As part of the broader community health programme, the Phelang Community Centre collates statistical information on sexually transmitted infections, voluntary counselling and testing, and the prevention of mother to child HIV transmission.

Who pays for it?

The programme is funded by Palabora Mining Company (the major funder), the Limpopo Province Department of Health and Social Development, Foskor Limited, Sasol Nitro, OXFAM Australia and the National Development Agency. A study to determine the impact of HIV & AIDS in Ba-Phalaborwa was funded by the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.

Why we do it

South Africa has the unenviable distinction of having the highest number of people living with HIV & AIDS in the world, with as many as 6,5 million South Africans estimated to be HIV positive. The Limpopo Province's HIV & AIDS infection rate is estimated at 14%.

The purpose of our programme is to use an effective HIV & AIDS management system to minimise the impact of HIV & AIDS in the community. We achieve this by educating communities to change social behaviour, and by monitoring incidences and trends in order to measure the effectiveness and impact of the programme.

The statutory Ba-Phalaborwa local HIV/AIDS Council meets on a monthly basis and deals mainly with policy and district issues relating to HIV/AIDS.

Success stories

Recent success and highlights were: