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Profile 

HOPE Cape Town is a non-profit organisation providing outreach, education and counselling at the community level focused on HIV, AIDS and TB in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.  HOPE Cape Town is co-located and associated with the Ithemba (Hope) Infectious Paediatric Ward at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town and linked to the University of Stellenbosch.  HOPE Cape Town cooperates with “KID-Cru”, the Tygerberg Hospital research unit for paediatric infectious diseases. 

History 

HOPE Cape Town was founded in 2001 and supports activities through fundraising with individuals, organisations and foreign governments in South Africa and abroad.  Strong, enduring partnerships are the mainstay of HOPE operations.  HOPE Cape Town was instrumental in the development of the HIV & AIDS framework in the formal partnership between Bavaria and the Western Cape Province.  To sponsor the HOPE community workers, the association requires a three year commitment from donors. During this time, the full-time worker receives distance diploma training from the University of South Africa and structured hands-on experience within the local clinic and at the Tygerberg Hospital.   
   
HOPE Community Health Workers

The Community Health Worker is the core of HOPE.  The HOPE worker lives in the community where she or he works and is chosen for people skills, maturity, energy and commitment.  Formal medical backgrounds are not required.  With the explicit cooperation of Provincial and Municipal Health authorities and clinic staff, the HOPE workers are trained to provide HIV, AIDS and TB counselling and to support the treatment regimes and health concerns of clinic clients with home visits, food parcels, sourcing welfare and support services and additional counselling, advice or on-going interest.  In the chronically under-staffed clinics, the HOPE workers are dependable and responsible members of the clinic team. Within their communities, HOPE workers are a neutral, independent resource.  HOPE Cape Town currently employs twenty workers, each with a three-year sponsorship.  Clinics are located around Cape Town, Paarl, Hermanus and Grabouw. 

Community Involvement

In 2003, HOPE Cape Town took the singular initiative to include traditional healers (Sangomas) in the HOPE Cape Town program, in the belief that all levels of community leadership and expertise are essential to successful HIV, AIDS and TB outreach.  Within the trial communities, the HOPE worker and the Sangoma liaise to provide coordinated services to clients exploring traditional options and clinic treatment.  In addition, HOPE Cape Town offers short-term HIV/AIDS awareness training to local organisations and businesses.   

Budget

HOPE Cape Town believes in the investment in people and does not build or advertise, preferring to integrate into current systems making use of existing resources and programs.  The operating budget is R 1M/year. HOPE Cape Town currently has sufficient reserves to operate for an additional three years.  The major annual fundraising event is the Cape Town “Ball of HOPE”. 2006 HOPE Cape Town has launched a trust fund to ensure the association will be maintained on a long-term basis.