| On Wednesday, 13 March, a group of people from around the world gathered at the Cape Town Sex Worker Drop-in Centre. Delegates from Mexico, India, Morocco, Nepal, Macedonia, South Africa and Kosovo were invited to learn about TB HIV Care’s Sex Worker and People Who Use Drugs Programmes in Cape Town by hearing from staff and service beneficiaries alike. As members of the Global Fund’s Developing Country NGO Delegation, many of the international delegates had very comparable experiences implementing similar programmes in other countries. This was evident from the many nodding heads in the audience when our staff explained our processes and challenges. This delegation is responsible for representing the interests and viewpoints of NGOs from developing countries on the board of the Global Fund, and has one seat on the board. The delegation is currently holding a retreat in Cape Town to plan its year ahead and the purpose of the visit to the Drop-in Centre was to get insight into South African experiences. Lesley Odendaal, Communications Focal Point for the delegation, commented that the site visit had far exceeded her expectations. Rudolph Basson, Cape Metro Key Populations Project Coordinator, and Yolaan Andrews, Cape Metro Sex Work Site Manager, both gave excellent presentations describing the work of their teams. This was followed by emotional presentations by Natleen Jordaan, representing peers in the Sex Worker Programme and Angelo Langenhoven, representing peers in the PWUD Programme. Three service beneficiaries also shared their experiences with TB HIV Care, explaining how much they had learnt and how appreciative they were of the welcoming nature of TB HIV Care’s staff. Thank you to all involved! |
