In 2016 TTF ran a Crowd Funding campaign through Caring Crowd to support 50 of the most malnourished patients at Tiny Tim & Friends. Thanks to the support of 79 donors who came together to support our cause, and to Johnson & Johnson who matched every donation, we were successful in reaching our goal. So in early 2017 we spent time undertaking home visits, to understand the needs of our patients, and identifying those most in need of nutritional support. Finding 25 children and adolescents who were eligible was sadly not difficult. Many of the children were so malnourished and underweight they were suffering with opportunistic infections and alongside nutritional support also required supervised palliative care to help them get well. Supporting families with nutritional food packages is easy. But ensuring the children we are supporting are gaining weight and getting healthy is much more complex, involving regular counselling, home assessments, medical interventions and sometimes palliative care.
Thanks to the support of 79 donors through CaringCrowd and from the hard work of our counsellors all of the children gained weight, including one child who gained a massive 9kgs. Stay posted for further stories of each of these children but in the meantime we hope you enjoy seeing the pictures of just a few of the children you have changed the lives of.
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Ensuring the administration and tracking of progress of all of our programmes requires a lot of hard work and dedication from our admin team. Hear from our Admin and Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, Rodin on some of the challenges working with HIV+ children:
When did you start working with Tiny Tim & Friends? "I initially came to TTF as I was working with one of their partners as a paediatric counsellor - I really liked how closely they worked with the children and wanted to be a part of their indepth social programmes, so I joined the team in 2011 - it was much smaller then and a lot more all hands on deck so I was part data, part counselling" Why do you think TTF's work is so important? "TTF is probably one of the only, if not the only organisation, in Lusaka, that focus a lot on the social issues of our patients. Government clinics cover the necessary but dont have the time to go into detail on the issues we do. We take an interest in making sure our patients can access medication, even when they are too sick to come to the clinic. We often go to our patients home's to see how they are doing and if they need medication take it to them, or take them to the hospice when they are too sick for us to deal with. No one else provides that level of care in Zambia." Why do you like working at Tiny Tim & Friends? "I started because I like working with children. Part of my job now is collecting data on our programmes and this helps me to see how many children we are helping and the bigger picture. I know that if we give children a chance by working closely with them we can definitely achieve zero transmission in the future. I want to be part of that group that says "We have done that - there is no more HIV transmission", I think that will be a great feeling. " Today in our series of meet the staff, we catch up with our Acting Country Director/ Fundraising and Partnerships Director, Jac, who explains why she is committed to working at Tiny Tim & Friends:
How did you come to work at Tiny Tim & Friends? "When I first graduated from University I started working in PR, and I realised I was making money for people who had a lot already. I was once told by an old manager that I was pretty good at getting money out of people for a cause so it made sense I went into Fundraising. I initially came out to Zambia as a volunteer and then Tim told me about the position of Fundraising Director at TTF, I knew how passionate he was about the organisation so it seemed like a great move for me to help him achieve his mission." Why do you think TTF's cause is important? "There is a lot of focus on access to treatment and getting people on medication for HIV in Zambia. But getting onto medication is just the first step. Children don't always understand why they are taking medicine, or if they do they are scared of what their friends will say or think and therefore they miss doses. By closely working with children from an early age and supporting them through the difficult teenage years we can make sure they are empowered about their HIV status to help them stay healthy and increase their ability to lead a long, healthy life." Why do you think people should support Tiny Tim & Friends? "I think the only thing which separates us as humans is that some people are luckier to have been born in countries with better health, education and welfare systems than others. When you come from a developed country it is easy to take for granted services which can provide benefits to support people living in poverty. These don't exist in Zambia. I believe that everyone deserves a right to good healthcare and education. The intensive support we give the children at the TTF clinic can provide them high quality health care and hopefully enable them to be well enough to go to school - that in itself is an incredible gift." What do you see as the future for TTF? "Tim started TTF over 12 years ago, the mission of a world where no child has HIV has never changed. I think there is great potential for Tiny Tim & Friends to change the lives of the children we work with, I see it happening every day - we may not be reaching out to millions of people but our impact on individuals is huge. We hope to continue long into the future and would love for our supporters around the world to continue with us on the Journey Tim started." Counseling is equally as important in the treatment of HIV as the medical treatment. We have a skilled team of counselors who are commited to supporting the children we work with. Today meet Betty, who tells us why she works at Tiny Tim & Friends:
What made you dedice to become a counselor? "Initially I was studying Law but I didn't feel like I was connecting with people or having that great an impact on their lives. So I started something completely different and moved to social work. This way I feel like I am having more of an impact on people. Zambia is one of the countries most affected by HIV and the people lack a lot of informaiton on HIV prevention. It is important that people take time to learn about HIV and I want to help in that. " What made you want to work at Tiny Tim & Friends? "My passion working at Tiny Tim & Friends started when I was an intern for a few months. From the moment I came here I knew it was where I wanted to be so when a full time post came up I was very quick to apply". What is your favourite part of working at TTF? "When I get to tell an HIV+ woman that her baby is HIV negative, I can see that the work we are doing is making a difference. Also I think working with children, you can change a family and that is how you reach out into the community and start to have a real impact on HIV in Zambia" Why would you encourage people to give to TTF rather than other organisations? "There aren't a lot of NGO's just focussed on pediatric HIV in Zambia. Pediatric HIV is very preventable and our work can eliminate HIV in children. By working together we can change the future for the next generation of Zambians - our work is important and I hope our donors feel that when they give to us." We want to share with you stories of the individuals who work tirelessly to ensure that your donations have a significant impact on the lives of the children we support - today meet Francis, Clinical Officer at Tiny Tim & Friends:
Why did you chose to work in medicine? "I trained as a clinical officer and specialised in ART in 2009. I have always been committed to HIV. It is a major epideminc in Zambia, and I feel the need to contribute to the change that is possible for my country. From an early childhood I have always liked doing positive things for people and being around people so becoming a clinical officer made perfect sense to me. Why did you decide to work at Tiny Tim & Friends? The best thing about working at Tiny Tim & Friends is when you see a patient who was previously really ill recover and look great. The worst is when you see a patient who is too sick to recover and there is little you can do to help but the staff at TTF are always dedicated to the kids and we are able to give them the special attention which isnt always possible in government facilities due to overcrowding of the facilities. I think thats important for children, to feel like you know them and have time for them rather than they are just in a clinic. What is your message to our donors? I would like to thank them - your efforts are going a long way to preserve childrens life, letting them get an education and giving them a future. On their own they wouldnt have a chance and we appreciate your support all the time - so please continue to support us!" When dealing with vulnerable individuals, having a singular approach is often not that successful. Whilst one program intervention may work for one child, others will need a different approach or many different approaches in order to work. This was the case for Joseph. Joseph has been a patient at TTF for over 5 years - he came to the clinic when he was only 12 years old. Joseph has always been a skinny kid but during 2015 was diagnosed with having TB and lost quite a lot of weight to only 32kgs. So when the opportunity to include him in our nutritional support program came up he was one of the first individuals who was suggested. Starting the nutrition program in February Joseph weighed 39kgs and measured as significantly malnourished. We initially saw slow but steady gains in weight but then he would get sick and drop weight again. Progress wasn't as quick as we had planned. We began to wonder what was happening and therefore went to his home to understand his living situation. When he had enrolled in the program Joseph's care giver had told us that there were 8 people in the home but when we got to the house it appeared there were 17 individuals living there. With only the Grandmother providing an income through selling vegetables on the road side it was clear that one of the reasons Joseph wasn't gaining any weight is because the food was being shared to thinly and not being of benefit to Joseph. Families in Zambia share everything so requesting that food only go to Joseph would have been very difficult. Instead we want to ensure that we can support him in a controlled environment, through hospice or out of home nutritional support.
This is where we need your help. Joseph needs nutritional support outside of the home. We need to pay for a placement for Joseph and other children like him, where individuals are so malnourished they need food packages dedicated just to them, to bring their weight up pas the 1st percentile on the BMI index. We have found that individuals who start off malnourished than others gain weight much quicker. Therefore once their initial weight is boosted gaining more weight should be quicker and bringing them out of the danger area in terms of health risks. Pledge to donate to our Crowd funding campaign and help us to bring about significant change for vulnerable children like Joseph. AS SOON AS WE ASKED RACHEL'S MOTHER ABOUT FOOD SHE BROKE DOWN IN TEARSBy Jac Connell, Acting Country Director, Tiny Tim & Friends: A few weeks ago one of the social work team came to my office with a small child, Rachel (aged 2), who had been identified at the Clinic that day as HIV+ and at risk of TB. Weighing only 7.1kgs (15lbs), our counselor, Mwenda, was concerned about malnutrition and wanted to include Rachel on the list of patients who would benefit from our crowd funding campaign, should we be successful. She was incredibly tiny and I could tell from holding her that she had breathing problems and a persistent cough, a symptom we see often at the clinic and a primary indicator of TB. As with all of the patients we are considering supporting with nutrition the team usually sit with the family or undertake a home visit to assess what the household is like, how many people the individual lives with and what the income for the household is. As soon as we asked Elina, Rachel's mother, about food for the family she broke down in tears. She admitted that there was no food at home, as her husband was bedridden with TB and therefore had lost his job. They were totally reliant on her mother in law to provide food and often would survive on only one meal a day. RACHEL IS VULNERABLE. BEING UNDERWEIGHT PUTS HER AT RISK OF A NUMBER OF ILLNESSES WHICH COULD PROVE FATAL.Sadly, their story isn't particularly unique to us. They live in a two room house, sharing a pit latrine with their neighbors (17 people in total). Elina had never been to school as a child because her family couldn't afford it and therefore had never been able to get a job herself. Rachel's father is unable to work so they pay their rentals (approx $30 per month) through support from other family members.
Rachel has an older sister, who is 7 and in good health, but who has had to stop going to school after they could no longer pay the school fees. Rachel has been diagnosed with TB, but without food, both her and her father will struggle to take their medicine, recover and risk passing the disease to her mother. Having only recently started on HIV treatment, Rachel is in a vulnerable situation. Being underweight puts her at risk of picking up any number of illnesses which could prove to be fatal. We need all of our donors and supporters around the world to come together to support children like Rachel through our crowd funding campaign - by donating you will change a child's life: PANJI IS DESPARATE TO FINISH SCHOOL BUT HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO ATTEND FOR OVER 6 MONTHS DUE TO POOR HEALTH Sadly, sometimes patients come to TTF and from their appearance you immediately you know there is a major health problem. This was the case for 19 year old Panji when he was brought to the TTF Clinic earlier this year. Panji is 1.73m (5ft 8) and weighs only 42Kgs (92lbs). He is significantly malnourished and currently undergoing tests to see if he is suffering from Tuberculosis. His malnutrition, alongside HIV and suspected TB puts his health at significant risk, and without boosting his immune system just a small infection could prove fatal. Panji's parents died when he was just a child and he now lives in a one room house with 6 other people (his sister (pictured below), brother in law, and four nieces and nephews), sharing a pit latrine with 20 other people. Whilst food in the home is provided by Panji's brother in law, there isn't enough to support Panji in his current state and he is in desperate need of nutritional support. He needs your help to ensure he can go on to finish his education and lead a healthy, successful life. "I WANT TO FINISH SCHOOL SO I CAN BECOME A DOCTOR AND HELP OTHERS"Panji, was identified in the community by one of our teen mentors. He had previously been tested for HIV but wasn't yet ready to accept his status. Our staff have been working closely with him to provide him with medical advice and emotional counselling to prepare him to start on medication. But because of his late access to treatment he is incredibly sick and because of his poor health, he has been unable to attend school for the past 6 months. He desperately wants to complete his education so he can make something of his life and help others.
With the right medical, social and nutritional support Panji can go onto lead a healthy life, but we need your donations to support him and 49 other children and adolescents like him to reach our crowdfunding goal. So please consider pledging today and changing Panjis life around for the better! |
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