The Enable project targets the most vulnerable – expectant mothers and children up to the age of five – through door to door visits. One to One Children’s Fund empowers local women, many of them HIV positive, equipping them with skills and knowledge to carry basic health checks.
They arrange regular visits to monitor their health, provide support and advice and, if further medical care or drugs are required, refer them on to a clinic. Where needed, they can help with transport.
To date, our Mentor Mothers have accumulated a caseload of 1,452 clients of which 669 are children, and a further 36,905 members of the community receive health and awareness-raising sessions, addressing issues such as family planning, HIV and treatment adherence, and child and maternal health.
In addition, 3,340 children have been weighed and are monitored until the age of 6. The stand-out achievement of the project so far has been an almost 0% mother-to-child transmission of HIV rate after more than 500 births, despite the fact that nearly 24% of the mothers we work with are HIV+.
mothers-to-be, babies and children directly cared for by Mentor Mothers
members of the community benefited from health and awareness raising sessions, of which 18,453 are children
transmission rate of HIV from mother to child
people trained, educated and counselled
We launched Enable Phase II in April 2019 and the key developments are:
Overcoming barriers to clinic access
Home-based interventions are crucial in improving health outcomes for expectant mothers and children under 5, however clients also need to be referred to quality clinical services in order for the project to maximise its impact. Enable overcomes barriers to accessing clinics by early diagnoses and referral and providing transport or transport fees to access the nearest clinic or hospital. Our Mentor Mothers and Community Health Workers accompany clients to appointments to ensure they are seen, and a Mentor Mother is based at the hospital to provide additional support.
Training Government Community Health Workers
Unfortunately, the national policy of government-employed Community Health Workers conducting outreach services from health clinics is not being translated into reality. So far, we have trained 27 Community Health Workers in the Mentor Mother methodology with four-weeks classroom training and two-weeks observed field training, and they will receive continued supervision, support and training so they can realise their professional potential and save lives.
Extending outreach services
By resourcing and training Community Health Workers to provide comprehensive community-based services we can demonstrate the positive impact this has on health outcomes, particularly in remote, rural areas. The project will build an existing evidence base with which to lobby the Department of Health; to invest in more supervision, training and equipping of Community Health Workers, and to adopt the One to One model.
The Mentor Mother first came to me when I was 5 months pregnant. I only started taking my medication after she encouraged me to. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her. I think I would be dead by now.”
In 2003, I tested positive for HIV. I was discriminated by my community, even by my family. Being a Mentor Mother makes me feel like a helper. I advise people by making them realise that this (HIV) is not the end of the world for them. They can still get up and go on to achieve their dreams and not just sit around waiting for the day they will pass away.
Case study by Miranda Prynne
We joined Mentor Mothers Zanele and Vuyokazi on a visit.
The mother is nine-months pregnant, due any day, and is complaining of swelling in her legs and pain in her hips. She is 35 years old but looks a lot older. She is weighed, her blood pressure checked, she talks to Zanele and Vuyokazi as they update her files. She has their mobile numbers to ring if she needs any help. They advise her to ring the clinic if the pain in her hip gets worse and she must arrange to go to the clinic the moment she goes into labour. They hand her a sealed package containing antiseptic and wipes to clean the umbilical cord, just in case.
The advice from the Mentor Mothers is simple enough – breastfeed your babies, feed your children a varied diet with fruit and vegetables when possible, ensure your children are immunised, if you carry HIV, do not stop taking your antiretrovirals, ever.
Until meeting the Mentor Mothers, this expectant mother had no birth papers. As far as the South African government was concerned, she did not exist. This would have meant she could not register the birth of her new baby and apply for the child support grants she dearly needs.
The Mentor Mothers help with the paperwork. They help local women navigate the bureaucracy necessary to access government support. They provide the vital missing link between the government services and the Xhosa villagers.
Other members of our group met entire families whose livelihood had been saved from disaster by the early diagnosis and intervention of the Mentor Mothers. One party ended up making an emergency dash to the hospital after arriving to find a mother in labour.
The simplicity of the Enable model is its secret. This is no glamorous vanity project. It is a practical, low-cost solution to a problem. A solution that, with the right backing, could be applied on a much wider scale through government community health workers to improve the wellbeing of millions of young children and mothers.
The simplicity of the Enable model is its secret. This is no glamorous vanity project. It is a practical, low-cost solution to a problem.
Our Mentor Mothers are always looking for ways they can help mothers and children in Mankosi live their healthiest lives. Here are some new activities they have started in the past six months.
REACHING YOUNG PEOPLE
Mentor Mothers have identified three schools where they can run teen health and HIV-prevention classes for 11-17 year olds
HIV SUPPORT GROUPS
Mentor Mothers have formed two support groups for mothers affected by HIV where they can help them address psychosocial issues and take control of their own and their children’s health.
CLOSER TIES WITH LOCAL HOSPITALS
Mentor Mothers will alternate two days a week in the local hospital to better coordinate patient care, and offer breastfeeding classes to women who have recently delivered in the hospital.
We feel we are in a strong position to take this proven community health model to scale in neighbouring areas of the Eastern Cape, bringing in Community Health Workers as well as Mentor Mothers. We are also expanding our intervention to include sexual reproductive health and mental health, and using mobile technology to improve effectiveness. If we secure funding, we aim to reach 2,400 families directly and bring improved access to healthcare for thousands more.
Justice Froneman obtained a B.A. degree from the University of Stellenbosch in 1974 and a LL.B degree from the University of South Africa in 1977.
After completing his pupillage at the Pretoria Bar he commenced practice as an advocate at the Eastern Cape Bar in Grahamstown in 1980. He obtained Senior Counsel status in 1990 and was appointed as a judge to the Eastern Cape High Court in 1994. In 1996 he was appointed as Deputy Judge President of the newly established Labour and Labour Appeal Courts, a post he held until 1999. In 2002 he acted for two terms in the Supreme Court of Appeal. In October 2009 Justice Froneman was appointed to the Constitutional Court.
Froneman was an extraordinary professor in public law at the University of Stellenbosch from 2003 to 2008 during which he participated in the specialised LL.M course in Human Rights by way of annual seminars. During periods of judicial leave he attended Harvard University (1999) and the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford University (2008) in a visiting capacity. He has been involved in judicial training for new judges over a number of years and has also participated in practical training courses for magistrates, attorneys and advocates.
Rishda oversees the finance function of One to One Africa. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant and completed her articles at Ernst & Young Cape Town. She has a range of skills and experience in audit, financial management and corporate finance and across a range of industries, including Financial Services, Energy and Retail. She also has experience working with multi-national clients both in the UK and in South Africa.
Rishda has served on various professional, school and religious boards and committees over the years. After taking a break from her career to raise her children, she decided to utilise her skill set in the NGO sector. She joined the team of One to One Africa as a consultant in July 2019. She also currently serves as a director for the largest animal welfare organisation in the Western Cape.
Madeleine has a Masters in International Development from the University of Birmingham, alongside nine years’ experience working in the International Development sector. She began her career working for a $20 million health organisation to become Senior Business Development Manager and has since utilised this experience to consult for a range of organisations, specialising in strategy development, process and system design, and proposal development. This experience has culminated in her role as Business Development Manager at One to One Africa Children’s Fund.
Rochelle Carelse is an experienced Operational Manager with over 20 years of experience working in the NGO field. She joined One to One Children’s fund Africa, in May 2021 bringing a wealth of experience along in the fields of Finance, Procurement, HR, marketing and HIV operations/research. Before that, Rochelle worked at The Trauma Centre, Workers World, NACOSA , Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation and MES (Mould Empower and Serve).
Rochelle is a member of the South African Institute of Health Care Managers. Her qualifications include Management Certificate through the institute Damellin a further Higher Management Certificate through FPD where she boast cum laude pass mark and various studies of Grant and Cooperative Agreement course. She also has obtained certificates in Grants Policy and Management Training, Budgeting and costing for NPO’s, Fundraising Proposals and Financial aspects. She served on the Board/council of the Church of the Province of South Africa.
Rene Diane is the Impact Manager at One to One Africa. Rene is responsible for all monitoring and evaluation (M&E)-related activities currently focusing on the Enable programme’s transition to digitization.
Rene has over 16 years’ experience in social development and clinical health, working for organisations such Kheth’Impilo, NACOSA, Health & Development Africa and Hope Worldwide South Africa. She has led programme and M&E teams, and provided technical support and research oversight. Capacity development, Health System Strengthening and innovation is at the core of what Rene is passionate about.
Rene has a clinical health background and has worked as a nurse mainly in Botswana and South Africa before starting her career in M&E, capacity building and Health System strengthening. She is a qualified M&E Specialist, Assessor and experienced in digital health for monitoring and research purposes. Rene enjoys getting involved in projects which make a difference in communities and contributes towards social upliftment and social capital.
Dr Lillian Cingo is a South-African British professional nurse, counselling psychologist and honorary doctor.
For the last 8 years, she has been mentoring and fundraising for various HIV charities and NGO’s in South Africa. Prior to this, Dr Lillian was the Manager of the Transet Phelophepha Health-Care Train – a train that takes primary health-care and counselling services to rural South African communities – for over a decade.
Dr Lillian holds Honorary Doctorates from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (South Africa), the Tavistock Centre (United Kingdom), the University of East London (United Kingdom), the University of Willemett (USA) and Rhodes University (South Africa). Dr Lilian also holds a Public Service Award from Liberal Caucus Queens Park (Canada) and a Doctorate of Social Science from the University of Cape Town (South Africa).
Over her career, Dr Lillian Cingo has won over 30 professional awards, including The Golden Key from the International Honour Society and being presented to the Queen as Best Neurological Nurse Specialist in 1975. Most recently, Dr Lillian was chosen as one of South Africa’s 21 icons alongside Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu.
Patience is a qualified Chartered Accountant with a passion of changing people’s livelihoods through implementation of various projects across the globe.
Over the past 15 years, Patience has been working in local and international organisations implementing education, agriculture, health and business linkages projects where she was responsible for building, leading and developing finance teams, implementing financial systems to optimize the financial performance of companies, risk management, grants management, compliance, pricing proposals and developing budgetary control models.
Patience worked in Zimbabwe for various profit and non-profit organisations. After moving to South Africa, she continued working in senior finance positions in local and global development organisations including DAI where she was responsible for financial management of projects across Africa.
A former Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) South Africa, Network Panel member, Patience holds a BSc Honours from Oxford Brookes University and Masters in Business Leadership (MBL) from University of South Africa. She is a Chartered Accountant of England and Wales (ACA) and a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA).
Emma joined One to One Africa in August 2018 as our Head of Programmes. Emma has been working in the HIV/AIDS field for over 10 years; she has worked at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and at the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape where she also completed her doctoral studies in Public Health in 2017. Previously, Emma was Head of Operations at the Right2Know Campaign overseeing the Finance, Human Resources and fundraising departments as well as the day to day operations of the Campaign.
A former investment banker whose current work is a reflection of her personal passions, Gqibelo lives by the ethos that a life of service is a life well-lived, which is reflected in her work.
A graduate of the University of Cape Town and the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), she founded and ran a non-profit organisation for 15 years prior to joining One To One Africa in August 2021. As such, she is a seasoned leader and executive in the social development space, her previous organisation, Future of the African Daughter (FOTAD) having been publicly acknowledged by Mrs Michelle Obama.
Her work is characterized by her passionate but practical approach to her life and her work, informed by the unusual balance of her professional training in finance and economics, her passion and heart for the development and an almost quixotic enthusiasm and conviction in a better tomorrow for all. She is also a former member of the UN Women Civil Society Advisory Group (CSAG) Committee (RSA Multi-country office).
Jonathan Penkin is CEO of Goldman Sachs South Africa as well as the Head of Growth Markets ECM at Goldman Sachs International. Prior to this role, Jonathan was the Co-Head of the Financing Group in Asia Pacific (ex Japan) at Goldman Sachs Asia LLC.
Jonathan gained a BA in Political Science at the University of Cape Town before completing his MA in Political Science (Cum Laude) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also holds a BA in Jurisprudence from University College, Oxford.
Jonathan is a member of the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University and a member of the International Council of the New Israel Fund.
Jenny Altschuler is a consultant clinical psychologist and family psychotherapist who has spent much of her professional life working in the public sector, most recently at the Tavistock Clinic, London.
Her work focused on families affected by life limiting illness, trauma and the training of health care professionals.
Jenny now works as an independent psychotherapist as well as supervisor and consultant to medical and mental health professionals working in a wide range of health care settings. She has also written extensively on ways of addressing the challenges that illness and trauma present.
Jenny has been instrumental in setting up our counselling centres in Kosovo, and the training and supervision of the counsellors who work in these centres is a matter of great importance to her.
Jenny also oversaw the clinical aspects of our Israeli-Palestinian trauma healing and Child Resilience projects. Her expertise is particularly relevant in advising on our HIV/AIDS initiatives, including our Expert Patient Programme and the work of PATA (Paediatric AIDS Treatment for Africa).
Executive Chairman
David is the co-founder of One to One Children’s Fund and the Chair of the Board of Trustees.
David qualified as a Chartered Account in South Africa, before transferring to the UK in 1977 to become Treasurer of Marks & Spencer plc.
Alongside his venture finance interests, David embarked on a career as a social entrepreneur some 25 years ago. He was Chairman of the Refusenik organisation and then co-founded the One to One Project with Rita Eker MBE, which led to the formation of One to One Children’s Fund in 2001, with a mission to relieve the suffering of vulnerable children, wherever there is no government or other support.
This led to the development of our HIV/AIDS support and treatment programmes in South Africa, trauma counselling programmes and day care centres in Kosovo and Israeli/Palestinian resilience building initiatives in the Middle East.
David is also the co-founder and Chairman of Paediatric AIDS Treatment for Africa (PATA), a network organisation of more than 400 HIV clinics across Africa, sharing best practice and treating more than 100,000 children born with HIV.
David received the Prime Minister’s Points of Light award in 2017 in recognition for his outstanding volunteer work benefitting thousands of vulnerable woman and children. He has also received the WIZO Commitment Award for Entrepreneurship in 2013 for his endeavours in the non-profit sector.