1. Community groups typically provide home-based palliative care and support to HIV+ patients in their homes, or assist them in getting to the clinic for their regular consultations. Some Support Groups also monitor patients' medication adherence and some volunteers may be trained to administer medicine. The target group for the Community Support Groups are HIV+ adults who need care and support.

2. The goal is to provide support to groups located in all ten districts, especially in the remote rural regions.

3. Support groups are staffed by dedicated volunteers who actively follow their HIV+ patients. Patient retention in these groups is high and often the community groups are well known within the community and aware of who is in need of care and support.

4. The Community Support Groups know of the clinics in their areas and often accompany patients to the clinics and assist them with medication adherence. Income-generating projects allow the groups to provide patients with much needed food, basic toiletries and even clothing. Support Groups sometimes request training for their members so that they can deliver a better service. Training for Support Groups is invariably conducted by external groups and could include organisations such as Peace Corps, BAYLOR or MOHSW.

5. The Special Projects Team closely monitors the finance situation of the groups by requiring quotations prior to any money disbursement and receipts after disbursement. Special Projects maintains regular contact with the group at all stages of the grant, from disbursement, to monitoring spending, to providing advice/information. All requests for training from the Support Group come through the Special Projects Office for evaluation and approval. Site visits by the Special Projects team evaluate the projects and suggest improvements, where needed.

6. With the Gender Challenge Fund, Special Projects will work in collaboration with MCC/MCA and offer small grants to women who have been reached by MCC/MCA trainings on business development and the opportunities afforded to them under the Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act for the purpose of building small businesses.

7. Special Projects will monitor projects in the field on a quarterly basis and conduct follow-up interviews with recipients.

8. Priority grants are for Community support and coordination and Family/household strengthening

9. Target population: OVCs in remote rural villages who have limited access to services.

10. By allocating income-generating grants to remote rural communities the communities will learn micro-enterprise skills

as well as generate food for the OVCs from the sale proceeds or from the project itself (e.g., poultry projects). Income-generating projects will encourage the communities to work together and support themselves. Having a purpose in Lesotho, where unemployment is estimated at 50%, helps self-esteem and community self-sufficiency. Proceeds from the sales of the goods produced will also be used to train community members in HIV/AIDS care.

11. Income-generating projects will generate proceeds which will be used to provide OVC basic needs, such as education expenses and food, as well as potentially teaching them and the community micro-enterprise skills.

12. Successes will be providing OVCs with food, reducing the numbers of hungry children, providing the community with a means to earn money and to work as a community, giving OVCs the opportunity to continue their education as opposed to missing school and trying to find a job to earn money for their livelihood. Not only are the successes evident for the community but projects in remote and rural areas generate huge amounts of positive goodwill for the US as is evident when we visit the communities.

13. The challenges are in reporting information to PEPFAR according to their timeframes and requests given that the communities have minimal grasp of English and bureaucracy. These grants are short term and only for one year, so there is a lot of reporting required for a 12 month long project.

1. Community groups typically provide home-based palliative care and support to HIV+ patients in their homes, or assist them in getting to the clinic for their regular consultations. Some Support Groups also monitor patients' medication adherence and some volunteers may be trained to administer medicine. The target group for the Community Support Groups are HIV+ adults who need care and support.

2. The goal is to provide support to groups located in all ten districts, especially in the remote rural regions.

3. Support groups are staffed by dedicated volunteers who actively follow their HIV+ patients. Patient retention in these groups is high and often the community groups are well known within the community and aware of who is in need of care and support.

4. The Community Support Groups know of the clinics in their areas and often accompany patients to the clinics and assist them with medication adherence. Income-generating projects allow the groups to provide patients with much needed food, basic toiletries and even clothing. Support Groups sometimes request training for their members so that they can deliver a better service. Training for Support Groups is invariably conducted by external groups and could include organisations such as Peace Corps, BAYLOR or MOHSW.

5. The Special Projects Team closely monitors the finance situation of the groups by requiring quotations prior to any money disbursement and receipts after disbursement. Special Projects maintains regular contact with the group at all stages of the grant, from disbursement, to monitoring spending, to providing advice/information. All requests for training from the Support Group come through the Special Projects Office for evaluation and approval. Site visits by the Special Projects team evaluate the projects and suggest improvements, where needed.

Gender Challenge Fund

6. With the Gender Challenge Fund, Special Projects will work in collaboration with MCC/MCA and offer small grants to women who have been reached by MCC/MCA trainings on business development and the opportunities afforded to them under the Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act for the purpose of building small businesses.

7. Special Projects will monitor projects in the field on a quarterly basis and conduct follow-up interviews with recipients.

1. Priority grants are for Community support and coordination and Family/household strengthening

2. Target population: OVCs in remote rural villages who have limited access to services.

3. By allocating income-generating grants to remote rural communities the communities will learn micro-enterprise skills

as well as generate food for the OVCs from the sale proceeds or from the project itself (e.g., poultry projects). Income-generating projects will encourage the communities to work together and support themselves. Having a purpose in Lesotho, where unemployment is estimated at 50%, helps self-esteem and community self-sufficiency. Proceeds from the sales of the goods produced will also be used to train community members in HIV/AIDS care.

4. Income-generating projects will generate proceeds which will be used to provide OVC basic needs, such as education expenses and food, as well as potentially teaching them and the community micro-enterprise skills.

5. Successes will be providing OVCs with food, reducing the numbers of hungry children, providing the community with a means to earn money and to work as a community, giving OVCs the opportunity to continue their education as opposed to missing school and trying to find a job to earn money for their livelihood. Not only are the successes evident for the community but projects in remote and rural areas generate huge amounts of positive goodwill for the US as is evident when we visit the communities.

6. The challenges are in reporting information to PEPFAR according to their timeframes and requests given that the communities have minimal grasp of English and bureaucracy. These grants are short term and only for one year, so there is a lot of reporting required for a 12 month long project.