On January 20, 35 trainers supported by the Capacity Project completed their assignment to build the capacity of 400 community-based caregivers to play an integral role in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare’s “Know Your Status” campaign. Lesotho is one of the first countries in Africa to launch such a national initiative to encourage people to find out their HIV status.

Duties of the caregivers include providing counseling, prevention messages and information on the benefits of knowing one’s HIV status and where testing is available. The 35 trainers, drawn from organizations working at the community level, completed a Capacity Project training-of-trainers workshop in September 2006 and began holding capacity building sessions for the community-based caregivers in October. The 400 caregivers serve Quthing District, which has a population of approximately 140,000. This activity is part of the Project’s assistance to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to build human capacity to implement quality HIV/AIDS programs.

February 2007