And so it begins.........................

Maybe it is about time I actually told you a bit about why I am here.  I am spending the next 6 weeks volunteering with a small community based organisation ‘Bwafwano’.  They are based on the outskirts of Lusaka  in a community called Chagza.  It was created in 1996 by Mrs Breatice Chola as part of the response of the HIV / AIDS epedicie in Zambia.   Their overall aim is to improve the lives of people who are suffering from HIV / AIDS and TB, primary carers and children who are affected by these diseases. 

They are achieving this by running a number of programmes from one site in Chagwa, and similar sites in 3 other districts in Zambia.  They provide training to community volunteers to act as care givers as part of home based care for suffers.  This program has 5,400 AIDS / HIV patients and 325 TB patients, 2,253 patients with advanced HIV/AIDS infection on ART. The program conducts trainings for community volunteers as care givers in home based care, palliative care, TB/ART treatment supporters, counseling as lay counselors and provides HIV prevention Education during their home visits and during support group meetings.  They have also established a community clinic which provides health care to all sufferers and has a community laboratory for testing.   The Orphans and Vulnerable Children program provides educational support to children up to grade 4 who have been affected through the disease through the Bwafwano  Community School and sponsors children through the rest of their education at government schools.  They have also established a community sexual and reproductive health education program where young people are actively involved in being peer educators.

I have spent most of the day asking question after question after question to understand how Bwafwano operates at a strategic level right down to the day to day posting of individual transactions.  I have found that this will task will probably take a while to complete!  In the meantime they want me to work on – training on Pastel (electronic accounting software package), organisation wide budgets, and training on excel.  I am honestly say I am not an expert in any of these areas having never actually used an accounting package before (result of only being an auditor!) and only using basic formulas in excel.  I have a feeling it might be time to reach for my CIPFA study guides again.

Photos will be added when I have figured out how it happens!  Cx