Chimoio

I'm back from Chimoio, the small city near the border with Zimbabwe. While there, I visited the homes of more micro-loan recipients and two orphanages. Typically, our programs shy away from institutionalized care, trying instead to support children within family structures. The kids we saw living in these settings were supported, but even with best intentions, trying to provide for 20 children at once is very difficult. Sometimes profits from the loans would go to food, instead of capital or loan repayment, which made sustainability hard too.

After two days of traveling in and around Chimoio, I feel like I have a better picture of Mozambique and how NGOs are working to support communities affected by HIV/AIDS. We also visited a school, where children had formed community clubs to discuss the importance of waiting for sex, practicing fidelity, etc... It's really difficult to know just from observing what effect some of the programs have. Without solid data, it's almost impossible to know whether to continue funding projects or to make programmatic changes. One of the most critical interventions we could begin, I think, would be to systematically study what works in terms of reducing HIV prevalance while also mitigating the results of widespread infectious disease, including HIV.

In one community we met a woman, whom community health volunteers had located one year ago, desperately in need in health care. After testing positive, she started on ARTs and now she's resumed a fully functional life, working in her village and caring for her young daughter. It was amazing to see expanded access to treatment in one of the most remote places on earth. Just five years ago, this would have been impossible, which is one of the brightest development stories I've seen yet.