Neverson Chinula is a 66 year old farmer living with his wife and 4 children in Wakhalika Village, his main source of income is farming.

Neverson first found out about Temwa through one of our Early Childhood Development (ECD) projects that is being implemented in his community in Bula. 

As part of Temwa’s Strengthening Community-Run HIV Services project, Temwa held a football tournament and HIV awareness event in Bula, following on from the success of previous events including a football competition held in November which attracted an estimated 8,000 community members. 

The awareness event focused on the practices that are encouraging the continued transmission of HIV among community members. Community members were also asked to suggest some cultural practices that they feel are contributing to the HIV transmission and were made aware of the HIV preventive measures which the health centres are offering, calling for the general community to access them whenever they need to.

Neverson, like others in the community, came to the event to watch the football and support his team, but on arriving he heard the announcements about Temwa’s HIV/AIDs services. 

“I saw this as an opportunity to get tested, as I yearly do so. I am happy for this opportunity because now I know that I am well and will continue to protect myself.”

Neverson also described the importance of this event as an opportunity for people to enjoy entertainment of music and games, as well as creating a positive and accessible opportunity to get tested. He also notes the importance of this for young people in Bula, who are eager to find out their status, and already looking to make use of other services that Temwa assists with in Bula – involving farming, livestock, ECD and health. 

As part of this project, it is vital that Temwa’s support to HIV services are widely available and sustainably run. Alongside awareness events such as these, Temwa provides continued tailored support to health centres and local governance to ensure these structures are able to deliver HIV services regularly and independently in the future.

With this aim, Temwa’s Strengthening Community-Run HIV Services project continues to focus on supporting the five health centres in the region with regular outreach clinics and weekend testing. In February 2024, 6 outreach clinics were conducted in the remote villages of Sanga, Mtawa, Usingini, Njiri, Banda and New Salawe. A total of 486 community members accessed various health services through the outreach clinics, including HIV Testing and Counselling. 

This varied approach ensures support to communities with one-off awareness and testing events as well as creating longer-term solutions to continue testing and outreach for communities that can be continued sustainably and independently. 

Read more about the project in our latest report here.