Communities that live beyond where the tar road ends and the footpath begins, are known as “last mile” communities – One to One Africa supports them.
South Africa (29 November 2022) – One to One Africa is an organisation that services last mile communities. Last mile communities are literally villages that are the furthest away from main tar roads. Tar roads are a linkage to urbanisation, and by default, resources, development and all that this represents. Conversely, distance from tar roads correlates with impoverishment.
One to One Africa combats this by offering support to these communities. Thursday, the 1st of December is World Aids Day. Aids has been classed as a pandemic for the past 30 years but thanks to the work being done by amazing organisations around the world, it is now managed very well.
Through the guidance of Dr Emma Chademana, who has been actively involved in the HIV/ AIDS field for over ten years, they are starting to see the benefits of their hard work with the fact that the areas that One to One service, the rate of mother to child HIV transmission has dropped from 30% to 0.03% – a staggering achievement! There are several programmes in place that benefit the communities on the “last mile”.
One to One’s Mentoring Mothers Campaign is a model for transforming healthcare in South Africa and beyond. The team works through simple solutions by offering integrated, door-to-door, health interventions by trained Mentor Mothers, providing access and referrals to clinics and hospitals.
The Bright Start programme kick-starts cognitive development for vulnerable children in SA especially those affected by HIV/ AIDS. 70% of children who live in HIV-affected households experience cognitive deficits and developmental delays, whether or not they are affected.
Lastly, the Better Together Programme works at breaking the stigma of incurable illness by bringing young people living with chronic diseases together. Together with clinicians at Groote Schuur Hospital, they are developing a cross-departmental support group for adolescents with chronic diseases including HIV.
Since 2005 global deaths from HIV/Aids have fallen by almost 40% across all age groups except for adolescents. Despite the scaling up of treatments, Aids is now the leading cause of adolescent death in Africa.
One to One Africa is doing everything to protect South Africans battling the disease in far-off communities. You can find out more about the organisation here.
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