Fighting AIDS in the mountains of Lesotho
The Kingdom of Lesotho is an independent country landlocked by South Africa, and often called the 'kingdom in the sky' or the 'roof of Africa' because the entire country has an altitude of 1300 metres or over.
St James' Mission Hospital is a 60 bed hospital high up in the mountains of Lesotho and is on the front line in fighting HIV/AIDS in regional areas.
With funding from AngliCORD and AusAID, the Hospital aims to impact more than 20,000 people in the Mantsonyane area over the next three years, through information to reduce the spread of AIDS, support for groups of HIV positive people, and care for those who are infected and affected.
AngliCORD's partners face many challenges - including dispelling the myths surrounding AIDS and to provide education that will motivate people to change their behaviour.
Anecdotal evidence is that this is no easy task.
Staff are being trained to provide counselling support and care for HIV+ people, both in their homes and when attending clinics.
To promote health behaviour change, trained AIDS counsellors are now visiting schools, running community awareness campaigns, training a puppet group to help with the education program and running regular public events.
Home visits are an important source of support for people who are already HIV positive, and peer support group for people with AIDS are giving people strength to live for several years longer than expected.
St James' Mission Hospital was founded in 1963 by the Anglican Church, and is situated in the geographic centre of Lesotho at an altitude of 2,300 metres.
It is connected to the capital Maseru by road, which is mostly sealed and accessible in most weather conditions.
The hospital has 60 beds and serves a population of 66,000 people living in small villages scattered throughout an area of 2,000 sq. kms.
St James is responsible for the implementation of curative and preventative services within its region.
Because of its difficult terrain, many people live from one hour to two days' horse ride away from the hospital. To overcome this problem a network of permanent and semi-permanent clinics and village health posts has been set up.
More about Lesotho
It is the only part of Africa in which people have adapted to living part of the year in snow.
The population of just over two million people is predominantly very poor, eking out a living by farming small plots and herding cattle. The unemployment rate stands at 36%, with a higher rate in the mountains.
The mountains are virtually the country's only natural endowment. They are also an important watershed and provide the country's one exportable resource - water, which is being sold to South Africa.
The Lesotho Highland Water Project, the largest engineering enterprise underway in Africa, includes the construction of two huge dams, a delivery tunnel and a hydro-electric power station, to supply water and electricity for both Lesotho and South Africa.
The large workforce required for the project, which is coming into a quite small and remote mountain community, is bringing tremendous change.
Not least of which is new sexual behaviour with a growing trade in prostitution and a rapid increase in HIV infection. St James' Hospital at Mantsonyane serves remote mountain communities adjacent to one of the new dams.