Voices from the Capacity Project

At Modjo Health Center in Oromia, Ethiopia, a young woman is distraught. She recently learned that she is HIV positive, and she is deeply worried about her future. “If my husband knows my status he would send me away from home,” she insists.

A friendly woman named Asegedech approaches and engages her in conversation. Gradually the young woman understands that she is talking with someone just like herself. Asegedech brings up the Mothers’ Support Groups (MSG) program based at the health center. Sharing her own experience as a member, she helps soothe the young woman’s concerns. “You have a nice opportunity to prevent mother-to-child transmission now,” Asegedech emphasizes. “There were no such opportunities a couple of years ago. You can also come every week on Monday and benefit from our MSG counseling service. Feel free. We all live with HIV like you.”

The MSG program supports HIV-positive women’s health needs. Initiated by IntraHealth International and continued under the Capacity Project since 2007, MSG has expanded to 78 sites and enrolled over 2,600 women. The program empowers mothers and mothers-to-be to access peer-based support and make linkages to services such as family planning, infant-feeding counseling, nutritional guidance, antiretroviral therapy, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) and health institutional delivery.

Over the last two years, the Capacity Project has planned and facilitated workshops in several countries to build the capacity and skills of human resources for health (HRH) planners and managers in data analysis and use.