 Many of you will remember, Evison, the young boy who came to TTF last year completely malnourished with a range of ilnesses - you will also remember the fantastic transformation in his health after just 5 months with us. To ensure that we can support even more children like Evison we have teamed up with CARINGCROWD℠, a new crowdfunding platform seeking to address global health inequalities and powered by Johnson & Johnson.
www.caringcrowd.org/nourish-25-hiv-children-and-families We are aiming to raise $6,500 in just 30 days to support 25 of the most vulnerable, malnourished children and families at the TTF clinic. In order to do so need as many of our supporters as possible to pledge money to our cause and/ or share with your networks. If we do not reach our target within the allocated time we dont get a penny - therefore we are looking for project advocates who can help achieve our goal. So how can you support us?
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By Katie Kampa: "As I complete the last few days of a ten week internship with Tiny Tim & Friends, it’s a great time for me to look back and reflect on the experiences I’ve had with the organization. While TTF is a rather small NGO, I have been amazed at the large number of activities that they are involved in and the number of clients they manage to reach. "THE DEDICATED STAFF AT TTF AND THE GRACIOUS DONORS..... |
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Volunteering with Tiny Tim & Friends as a student of Public Health at Tulane University, I've been able to put many of the skills I've learned in the classroom into practice. After completing research and analysis of the 2013-2014 Zambia Demographics and Health Survey, it’s quite promising to see the rates of HIV transmission steadily decreasing throughout the country while the number of people receiving life-saving anti-retroviral treatment has continued to grow over the last several years. I see these numbers as a reminder as to why organizations like TTF are so important in the fight against AIDS. The dedicated staff members at TTF and the gracious donors supporting their work, are creating positive change on a daily basis within communities in desperate need of just that. In a country where one in every 13 children dies before reaching their fifth birthday, it often can be difficult to recognize that progress is in fact occurring.
Tiny Tim & Friends always welcomes ideas from new and existing supporters who come up with innovative ways to support our work . Earlier on this year Mark and James got married in London and after hearing about the work of TTF through a friend decided instead of asking for gifts from their guests they would ask for donations to support our work.
"We heard about Tiny Tim and Friends through a good friend and instantly recognised what a great organisation they are. We wanted to support them and as they are a small organisation, any donation made would go directly to those who need it and really will make a difference."
Through the generosity and support of Mark, James and their guests $1,125 was raised for Tiny Tim & Friends programmes. The team at TTF send a huge thank you to Mark and James for allowing us to be a part of their day and celebrations and to all of their guests for the generous donations given.
For inspiration on how you can support Tiny Tim and Friends visit our fundraising page or contact our fundraising team and have a positive impact on the lives of HIV+ children in Zambia.
"We heard about Tiny Tim and Friends through a good friend and instantly recognised what a great organisation they are. We wanted to support them and as they are a small organisation, any donation made would go directly to those who need it and really will make a difference."
Through the generosity and support of Mark, James and their guests $1,125 was raised for Tiny Tim & Friends programmes. The team at TTF send a huge thank you to Mark and James for allowing us to be a part of their day and celebrations and to all of their guests for the generous donations given.
For inspiration on how you can support Tiny Tim and Friends visit our fundraising page or contact our fundraising team and have a positive impact on the lives of HIV+ children in Zambia.
| In Lusaka, Zambia it is estimated by the Ministry of Health that almost 1 in 5 people are living with HIV. Individuals knowing their status and getting access to treatment (ART) is essential to prevent HIV transmission. At the end of last year TTF undertook 14 intensive days community outreaches in Chibolya, one of the most economically deprived areas of Lusaka. With a team of 10 counselors lead by our Social Worker, Noah Kampengele, we worked in the community going door to door to talk to people in the privacy of their homes about HIV, testing 6,341 individuals, identifying 217 HIV people and registering 116 HIV+ children and adolescents into the TTF Clinic. |  Noah and his team at a house in Chibolya |
Noah talked about some of the challenges and successes he and his team experiences over this grueling 2 weeks.
"KNOWING THAT WE CAN SAVE A CHILD'S LIFE
IS WHY WE DO THIS WORK."
 One of our counselors providing VCT. | What is it like in Chibolya? Chibolya compound originated from the migration of people from different places around Zambia in search of greener pastures, but basically ended up being a hiding place for armed robbers, drug dealers and prostitutes. There are basically no facilities there, especially health, education and police presence. The houses have no order and most don't have house numbers. This means finding your way around and finding people can be really difficult. When TTF do outreaches do you only focus on children? No, not at all, we test entire families and individuals who request it. |
Lonely, getting ready to go down to the clinic in our vehicle.
Lonely, is one of our Social Workers and Adherence counselors at TTF. He runs our clinic and interacts with young people on a daily basis. He see's every day the issues that the young people living with HIV are facing. In celebration of National Youth Day in Zambia we interviewed him about some of the problems young people face and how TTF can help.
| Why do you think that it’s important to recognise National youth day and what will you be doing on the day? It is an important day to recognise because in a Zambian the youth are the majority and form the highest part of the population. Whatever is going on in employment, volunteering, bus drivers, they are all young people – youth day gives people an opportunity to reflect on their lives, and what they want to do. I will be sharing my day with the senior citizens, 65 and above – and try to find out about life, how life was, before independence compared how life is now. I want to know how they used to treat each other, to talk about issues which are happening with young people today and find out from them how it was and how we can move forward. | In Zambia females aged 14-29, orphans and vulnerable children are the most at risk of contracting HIV and. An estimated 80,000 – 100,000 HIV+ adolescents (older than 14) are not currently on treatment. What more do you think TTF can be doing to help address this issue? Most young people are on social media – TTF need to work on a social media and social work side, having a Q&A page where individuals can post questions. We need to make sure young people are given the opportunity to understand the organisation and what we can offer. This could be done through advertising our clinic and services. TTF also need to continue our outreaches and focus on young people and adolescents. Young people will then understand what we stand for and HIV. We also need to strengthen our women groups, coming up with a system of referrals for young people. By doing these three things we are catching people on Facebook, in the community and in an urban setting. |
Sepiso, helping out at our Christmas party.
Sepiso, 16, is a client at TTF. She is actively involved in our work and supporting our activities. She is one of our teen mentors and is always involved in our youth and children's support groups. Here she reflects on some of the challenges of growing up in Zambia how she would like to build a stable and sustainable future.
| Why do you think that it’s important to recognise National youth day and what will you be doing on the day? It is important to recognise youth day because youth play an important role in the future of Zambia. They are at the forefront of change in Zambia. I will be home on youth day but think it’s important for people to recognise the day and think about the future. You are involved in a lot of TTF support groups and act as a teen mentor – why do you feel it is important for you to be involved in this way – what drives you to want to be involved? I want to help others who have lost hope, I want them to have hope and acknowledge their status in a positive way. I want to share stories and experiences as I think this can really help young people and children who are HIV+. I like working with TTF because it’s a great opportunity to meet so many people and make some really good friends. | What do you see as the different struggles for young women vs that of young men? Prostitution is an issue for women. It is much easier for men to find casual work and employment than women. Women find themselves having not many options so have to turn to prostitution to make money and provide for their families and make money for food. Also early marriages are an issue for women. Young women and girls often don’t have a choice whether they get married because of the environment in which they are living in pushes them to early marriage either for stability or because their family want them to. Oh and peer pressure! Peer pressure is also a major issue for young people in Lusaka, leading to people doing things they don’t always want to. If you could have any job in the world in the future – what would it be and why? I would like to be a doctor – because I want to help people! |
*To protect our patients identity a stock image has been used.
Pearson, 19, has been involved with TTF for over six years. He is HIV+ and lives in one of the most urban poor compounds in Lusaka. To celebrate National Youth Day 2015 in Zambia, we spoke to him about some of the challenges and struggles he sees for youth in Zambia.
| Why do you think that it’s important to recognise National youth day and what will you be doing on the day? It is important that young people are given time to interact with each other. It will give an opportunity for young people to act like young people and play games, and have fun, spend time with their friends. What are some of the main issues that you face as a young man in Zambia? One of the issues facing young people is school drop outs and lack of employment for those who have finished school. There are very few jobs for individuals in my community which leaves people with a lot of time on their hands. TTF support youth through our Free clinic and through our support groups – how else would you like to see TTF supporting youth like yourself to have stable and sustainable futures? TTF should continue to support youth through Clinic and hopefully one day have a much larger facility to support even more people. | You live in one of the very urban compounds in Lusaka – what are some of the biggest issues for youth in the compounds around where you live? What needs to be done to address these issues? Crime, and drug and alcohol abuse are some of the biggest issues I see on a day to day basis. Communities need to be sensitised on drug and alcohol misuse to address this problem. There are not any police around where I live – more police need to support our communities. They only sometimes come for big crimes but if you get burgled you don't have any support. If you could wish for one thing for yourself, to have a stable and sustainable future, what would it be and why? Sponsorship to help me in my education, to be trained in medical care either to be a doctor or a clinical officer, then I can help others in my community. |
Betty on her last trip to Zambia.
Betty Meade, is a pivotal women in the TTF story as she helped to found the NGO. Read her thoughts on how why it is important for us to recognise women's empowerment though International Women's Day.
| Why do you think it’s important to recognise international womens day? Women all over the world need to recognize that they are important. I have been in Zambia on International Women’s Day and have seen the Zambian women marching down the street. They are smiling, friendly, unified and proud as they should be all year long. What are some of the main differences and similarities you see between women in the US and in Zambia? I would hope that more and more Zambian women would realize that they have a voice of their own, to speak up for their own rights and beliefs. Some women in the U.S. have realized this to an extreme. Zambian and U.S. women have huge hearts and want nothing but the best for their children, whether they can provide those things or not. | You helped to found TTF to support women and children with HIV, how important do you think our programmes are in supporting women in Lusaka? The TT&F programs – especially the PMTCT program, help the women to realize that they can give birth to a healthy baby despite the HIV status of the mother. If you could make or see one change in Zambia for the women we support at TTF what would it be? We would like to see the women of Zambia rise above the stigma of HIV and not be afraid to confront their husbands or partners or communities so that they would seek help, medicine and counseling through the TT&F program. Who do you see as one of the most impactful/ powerful women in history and why? I see Mother Theresa and her Sisters in Zambia as some of the most powerful women in history. I have seen firsthand the work they do in Zambia for the poorest of the poor with no fanfare, publicity, or modern day comforts. |
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