HIV and AIDS - Changing children's lives
Ways forward
The experience of Healthlink Worldwide and its partners shows that
memory work brings many positive benefits. International Memory Projects
organisations, are currently adapting their strategies and using project
learning to strengthen their memory work, enabling it to continually evolve
in practice.
The experience, to date, enables us to make certain recommendations to policy
makers in designing and supporting HIV responses, and to practioners interested
in integrating memory work into their projects.
Considerations for practionners
Implementing memory work can have change the way people respond to HIV and
AIDS prevention, treatment and care programmes in the community. The progress
can bring challenges, raised expectations and unexpected outcomes. Based
on the experiences of the partner organisations some of the considerations
for practionners, when implementing memory work, include the following:
- Memory work benefits from strong referal systems and alliances with other organisations and institutions. Growing demand for services can put pressure on an organisation to respond to increased needs which might be unrealistic. Developing referal systems helps a more holistic approach.
- Children's participation is central to the success of memory work. Memory work supports engagement with children, in order to understand their needs and support them to develop their own coping strategies.
- Memory work as an approach can be adapted. Its relative simplicity makes it applicable in a range of situations and contexts with the HIV epidemic. It is highly effective at reducing stigma and discrimination.
- Responsiveness to unexpected change and outcomes is vital to ensure that memory work remains relevant. The practice of memory work, is dependent on reflection, analysis and learning within an organisation, and more importantly at the community level.
Considerations
for policy makers
Changing children's lives describes the powerful transformation and social
change that is possible through the memory work progress. This has implications
for HIV programming and resource allocation:
- Putting children at the centre of memory work and enhancing their participation in the community, both strengthens their own resilience, and creates a community-led response to the care and support of increasing numbers of orphans and vulnerable children.
- Well-resourced and supportive health and social welfare systems, are essential to cope with the increased demand that memory work encourages.
- Memory work is a powerful tool, when it is rooted in community dialogue and action. Investment in community-based organisations will ensure their contribution remains dynamic and relevant and will ensure resources reach those in greatest need.
- Memory work is not just a psychosocial intervention for children. It effectiveness at reducing stigma and discrimination, and increasing uptake of prevention, care and treatment services, indicates it is well placed to make a significant contribution within national HIV responses.
- The increased level of family and community dialogue, as a result of memory work , helps increase understanding of local dynamics, contexts and issues. This implies that memory work can contribute to making local responses more effective.
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