GROOTS International and the Huairou Commission are pleased to present Volume 1, Issue 2 of the quarterly Home-Based Care Alliance Newsletter. In this issue, caregivers from Home-Based Care Alliances in Benin, Zambia, Nigeria and Uganda share what drove them to begin caring for those in their communities and to organize Alliances to advocate for the priorities of those they care for and gain recognition from their governments.

Recognition by the government for their tireless work and contribution to their communities stood out as key to caregivers across their.  Caregivers from Benin working with ICA Lambassa share how they began providing home-based care when no one else was and organizing the caregivers in their communities to gain recognition.  A caregiver working with the Zambia  Homeless and Poor Peoples Federation and leader in the Zambia Home-Based Care Alliance who has provided home-based care for over half of her lifetime shares how her commitment has inspired others in her community to act and join her in calling for the government to recognize their work.   Two caregivers from the International Women’s Communication Center in Nigeria share how their experience receiving care while they were sick and bedridden inspired them to provide care for others also infected by HIV.   In Uganda, a caregiver from the Slum Women in Development shares her inspiration to take action in order for women in her community to have a strong voice to stand up against discrimination and to seek support from the government.  The newsletter also includes updates on global advocacy and news including caregivers from Uganda and Guatemala bringing the experiences of caregivers to the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS in New York City and the appointment of Violet Shivutse, a caregiver from Kenya, to the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS steering committee.

We welcome and encourage anyone who receives this to print and distribute widely to caregivers you are working with and to share electronically with your networks.

Read the Home-Based Care Alliance Newsletter here.