On 31 July, Fr Michael Lewis SJ, President of the Jesuit Superiors of Africa and Madagascar (JESAM), declared Chikuni Parish Home-Based Care (HBC) program in southern Zambia as the winner of the first award for excellence in Jesuit AIDS ministry in Africa and Madagascar. JESAM and the African Jesuit AIDS Network (AJAN) launched the award this year to identify, reward and share best practices among AIDS projects led or supported by Jesuits or collaborators.

In this issue of AJANews, we bring you an outline of each project that submitted an entry for the award, detailing the best practice they selected:

Zambia: Chikuni Parish Home-Based Care – The Chikuni Parish Home-Based Care (HBC) program in southern Zambia was awarded for excellence for its new four-phase approach that strives to offer a more individualised and sustainable service to over 1000 people with HIV. Read more

Burundi: Service Yezu Mwiza – The best practice presented by the Service Yezu Mwiza (SYM) is a mobile clinic for people with HIV that has led to increased rates of treatment adherence and of healthy children born to HIV-positive mothers. Read more

Kenya: Uzima – For the Uzima program of St Joseph the Worker parish in Kangemi, its best practice is the participatory approach adopted in all its prevention and care activities. Read more

Burkina Faso: Association Solidarité, Vie et Santé (ASVS) – The ASVS in Ouagadougou caters mostly to women with HIV who are poor and have been abandoned by their families. Read more

Kenya: St Aloysius Secondary School – St Aloysius aims to provide quality education to needy orphans and vulnerable children living in Kibera slum, Nairobi. Read more

Kenya: Upendo – Upendo was set up in 1995 by St Joseph Parish in Kangemi as a unit for children in need. Since its inception, more than 450 children have benefitted from education, nutritional and psychosocial support. Read more

Togo: Centre Espérance Loyola (CEL) – The CEL in Togo presented as its best practice a summer camp that teaches youth the values of solidarity and mutual respect. Set up by the West African Jesuit Province in 2006, the CEL is based in Agoè-Nyivé, a suburb of Lomé. Read more