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Educational trips<\/h2>\n
Building a solid support base and trust in their peers is very important. Vhutshilo Mountain School tries to take the youngsters on educational and fun trips throughout the year. Sometimes we are able to take them to Leshiba Wilderness, where they learn first-hand the importance of preserving our flora and fauna, see rock art, and learn the medicinal use of plants and trees. Other trips are to Polokwane where they visit the airport and snake park, ride horses and visit a shopping mall where they watch a movie. Fun activities are usually linked with educational and social responsibilities such as spending a day picking up rubbish at a local resort. We also organised a trip to Tzaneen where they learnt survival tactics and team building and sleeping in tents. These trips have helped form strong bonds amongst the group and it is heart-warming to see the friendship, love and support between them, particularly the older ones who have been meeting for many years.<\/p>\n
Caregivers support group<\/h2>\n
These are usually elderly grandmothers, traditional “gogos” who need to be assisted in making sure the children they look after adhere to the strict drug regime. The Caregivers meet regularly to keep them informed about the way how they need to support the children. In the past, caregivers would often insist that the child leave his\/her Anti-Retroviral drugs at home if they are visiting family or if the child is going away on a school trip, as she does not want them to know the child is HIV positive. In our support groups, we work to make sure they understand the importance of sticking to the drug regimine and help talk about ways to overcome stigma. \u00a0We also inform them about changes with the medicines so they can continue to support the children in their care..<\/p>\n
Vhutshilo Mountain School invites health workers such as nurses, nutritionists, pharmacists to the meetings of the Caregivers support group, to educate the members about different subjects and provide them with a safe space where they can ask questions in an informal and friendly environment. Social workers are also invited to discuss the foster grants, how to access them, what they are intended for, and the penalties for abusing them.<\/p>\n
Massage training<\/h2>\n
Each year, massage therapists from the Virgin Islands come to the school and train the Caregivers on the powers of \u201chealing touch\u201d A highlight of our training last year was to take 22 caregivers to the Indiginous Knowledge Centre at Leshiba where they learnt how to use massage techniques in different situations.<\/p>\n
Petrus, a widower whose wife had died a few years back from AIDS, is the caregiver of a teenage daughter. He was\u00a0transformed by the massage. Previously, he had to use a sinus pump every day, but the massage makes it so he does not have to use it anymore. The trip was not only\u00a0practical and educational,\u00a0but it also gave these hardworking people a memorable outing. One of the elderly woman said when they went out for a game drive \u2018I always saw rich people on the T.V. doing this and never thought I would do it one day\u2019. On the same trip, the caregivers were shown and given a lecture on permaculture at Leshiba\u2019s vegetable garden.<\/p>\n
Support group meetings<\/h2>\n
Support group meetings for HIV positive adults are held every second month at Vhutshilo Mountain school. Attendees are mostly women, but a few men also regularly attend the meetings. This is a great breakthrough as men usually do not want to open up being infected and also do not want to take the Anti-Retrovirals. The 8 men of this group also meet with a larger men\u2019s group in Thohoyandou where they can discuss issues like safe sex and being good role models as parents. A few of the members have overcome the stigma and are assisting infected people in their communities. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sewing training Five young girls from the children\u2019s support group spent a week learning to sew at Mad a Thavha Mountain Lodge and Skills Development Centre. Unfortunately, they had no machines to practise their new skills at home. Around the same time, Milan, an 11 year old boy from the Netherlands, asked Marcelle from Madia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":195,"parent":12,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-89","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n