RIVCHO NEWS RIVCHO NEWS (A NON-GOVERNMENT, VOLUNTARY, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT. ORGANISATION TO THE PEOPLE OF THE NIGER DELTA)

OFFICIAL QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF RIVERINE COMMUNITIES HEALTH ORGANISATION INC.

EDITION: JULY - SEPT. 2013Mailing Address:P. O. Box 1963, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria.

Office:2, Awkuzu Close, off Aladja Avenue, Enerhen - Warri.

Website: www.rivcho.orgE-Mail: info@rivcho.orgeTel: 053-256640

Executive Director:Rev. Francis E. Waive08055062133, 08023257939

PROGRAMS/PROJECTS:HEALTH INITIATIVE -* HIV/AIDS PROGRAM* HEALTH CARE WORKERS TRAINING* SCHOOL HEALTH PROGRAM* MOBILE BOAT CLINIC* VACCINATION PROGRAM

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT - * INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT* MICRO-CREDIT SCHEME* PROJECT MONITORING & EVALUATION* AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS & ADVOCACY* CONFLICT MEDIATION* ENVIRONMENTAL & SANITATION CAMPAIGNS* ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT* RAIN WATER HARVESTING* SKILLS ACQUISITION PROGRAMS* ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:* To build a health conscious and safe society* To mitigate the spread of HIV/AIDS and to assist those infected as well as those affected by the virus.* To promote maternal and child health* To support Doctors and Health Care professionals in an area where most have left, due to violence, harsh conditions and lack of professional development.* To resource a modern and sustainable medical services to the Niger-Delta* To emphasize and establish partnership and shared responsibility within communities and other stakeholders in the development and execution of projects/programs* To monitor and evaluate sustainable programs* To develop as well as maintain health and social infrastructures* To assist in the development and empowerment of youth and women

FUNDS & ACCOUNTSOur work is made possibleby the donations in cashand in kind of individualsand organisations whobelieve in our objectivesand activities.Audited accounts for eachproject and for every financial year is available.

VISION:“Improved Quality of Life and SustainableCommunity Development for the Peopleof the Niger-Delta”.

trengthening HIV Prevention Services for Most At Risk SPopulation (SHiPS for MARPS) in

Nigeria is a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) project, being implemented by a

consortium of four with Society for Family Health (SFH) being the lead partner, In achieving the objective of increased capacity of local stakeholders to implement effective HIV prevention interventions among MARPs and create an enabling environment for service expansion, systems' strengthening is the identified approach for it. A key activity of the approach is the conduct of the organizational capacity assessment. The above background informed the basis in which SFH and her partners conducted organization capacity assessment for RIVCHO using the Participatory Asses smen t and o rgan i za t i ona l Development Framework (PADEF). Earlier a total of six organizations were selected by SFH among ten organizations visited in Delta State at the familiarization phase and were administered the Par t ic ipa tory Organiza t ion Se l f Assessment Process (POSAP) tools. The PADEF exercise took place in

thRIVCHO office on the 17 April, 2013. In attendance were 4 of RIVCHO staff, a board and a community member and the SHiPS for MARPs project team who facilitated the process. A total of 12(8M:4F) took part in the

exercise. At the end of the day RIVCHO was chosen as the implementing NGO in Delta State and had her staff trained at Noreigha

th ndHotel Effurun from 30 April to 2 May 2013. Thereafter implementation commenced.Implementation which started in May 2013 with mapping of Female Sex Workers (FSW) Communities and advocacy visits to Stakeholders in the FSW Communities has entered its intensive phase.RIVCHO trained Peer Educators from over twenty Brothels who are currently using the Peer Education Plus model to reach out to their colleagues with RIVCHO's active support, guide and mentorship. Over three hundred FSWs are been reached through weekly peer sessions, monthly review meetings, regular meetings with the girl's special boyfriends, brothel owners and other stakeholders. According to Mr Emmanuel Waterway, RIVCHO's Program Manager, the baseline survey proved that most FSWs are aware of HIV and many use condoms with customers. The problem however is that FSWs do not use condom with special boyfriends and other influencers. Thus the FSW continue to be a

MISSION STATEMENT: Providing health Care & Sustainable Community Development in the Niger-Delta through Partnership at all Levels.

RIVCHO REACHES OUT TO FEMALE SEX WORKERS

SFH & RIVCHO STAFF FSWs in trainingFSWs in training

representatives of NGOs that the Delta State Action Committee on HIV/AIDS (SACA) trained on Minimum Prevention Intervention (MPI) as a tool for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control at PeeBody Hotel

rd thOvwain 23 and 24 April 2013. Subjects covered included an overview of the HIV/AIDS situation in Nigeria, National Prevention Plan (NPP), Minimum Prevention Intervention (MPI), A Nigerian Approach to combination Prevention, Practical Application of MPPI in HIV Programming, Overview of Prevention Intervention Tracking Tools (PITT) etc There were practical discussion sessions and as well as discussions on capacity building for CSOs in Delta State.The RIVCHO participants were thrilled to learn that unless three minimum packages were combined and given, the intervention is not complete. As such, in every intervention, there must be Structural Intervention, Behavioral Change Intervention and Biomedical Intervention. A mix of these interventions must be given, having studied the environment the project will take place in. Most participants agreed that the days of hit and run HIV work were over in Delta State. Interventions must now meet the minimum required package. Many thanks to Delta SACA.

CHEVRON WOMEN NETWORK fetes OVCs in RIVCHO Hallhevron Women Network; a group of female staff of Oil Giant, Chevron Nigeria Ltd Warri

thCwere at RIVCHO 11 July 2013 to give

major contributor to the spread of HIV in the State.Waterway said that what RIVCHO is providing is a Minimum Prevention Package that is World Class and it includes Structural Intervention, Behavioral Change Intervention and Biomedical Intervention. The girls he said, have easy access to condoms, on-site HIV counseling and testing, unfettered treatment of STIs etc. RIVCHONEWS salutes staff involved in this all important outreach and looks forward to achieving the aims set out.

MDG Delta State partners RIVCHO on Poverty alleviation

he Directorate of Millennium Development Goals, Delta State is partnering with RIVCHO Ton delivery of Poverty alleviation to poor

households in the State. The program which commenced with RIVCHO's conduct of a survey of poor households in November 2012 has progressed to e-registration of selected households in July 2013.The Technical Assistant from the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, Glo Telecom team and EcoBank team played different functions during the exercise this July. In Udu LGA, communities that benefited include Ekete, Orhuworun, Owhrode, Ovwain and Aladja. About ninety households were e-registered in each of these communities. All communities in the different LGAs received the project with enthusiasm. The challenge was to ensure that only those households that meet the criteria are selected. Benefits include educational support for children (with evidence of regular school attendance) as well as conditional cash transfers to Caregivers and poor parents for income generating activity.

FOUR RIVCHO STAFF IN DELTA SACA NPP/MPI

TRAININGour staff of RIVCHO; Executive Director Rev Francis Waive, Finance Officer Mr Edafe FHitler, Program Officer Mr Emmanuel

Waterway and Miss Nkechi Oyenwueyi were among

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Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) under RIVCHO's care a helping hand. Over twelve members of the network made the trip putting a smile on the faces of over fifty OVCs that were on hand to receive them.

Items distributed among the children include soaps, biscuits, soft drinks, rice, groundnut oil, Indomie etc. More importantly thirty of the children got school supplies biros, pencils, rulers, erasers, notebooks,

mathematics sets, school bags and school uniforms.

There was singing, dancing, praying and speech making. The women encouraged the children not to be

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discouraged in life but to aim high and study hard to excel in life and one day work as a staff in Chevron among other good jobs. Two of the children and a Caregiver present gave thank you speeches before the team called it a day. RIVCHONEWS appreciates these privileged members of the society who remember the less privileged.

RIVCHO WINS NPDC HEALTH FACILITY MGT

ith the exit of the Shell Petroleum Development WCompany Ltd (SPDC) from upland Delta State, there was uncertainty in the air. However, new comer Nigeria Petroleum Development Company Ltd (NPDC) has proven that they are up to the task. Oil production is on-going and the communities are been taken care of. NPDC has engaged RIVCHO to continue to provide the Monitoring and Evaluation services of eight Health Facilities whose support NPDC has taken over from SPDC. Moreover RIVCHO is to assist in managing relationships and payments in these facilities. The goal remains uninterrupted delivery of quality medical services to the communities by ensuring availability of quality drugs and personnel as well as maintaince of standards. RIVCHO's strong knowledge of the communities and her vast experience in working with the communities will help NPDC and other stakeholders achieve the goal.

RIVCHO in PeTR-Gs HCT project

IVCHO is one of the four CSOs engaged by PeTR-Unique Global Services (Prevention, REducation, Treatment, Training and Research)

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to undertake massive HIV Counseling and Testing services in Delta State. The riverine Communities of the South Senatorial District is RIVCHO's coverage area under the project. RIVCHO commenced project execution with the selection and training/re-training of Counselors and Testers in RIVCHO's Hall in warri. Already outreaches have begun in Patani, Bomadi, Burutu and Warri South West LGAs with other LGAs to follow. As at the time of this report RIVCHO has tested over seven thousand persons for HIV.

CUBS PROJECT assists RIVCHO with Organisational Development

(OD)he Community Based Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CUBS) project is in its Tfourth year and RIVCHO has been privileged to

be a part providing care and support to one thousand two hundred and fifty children in Udu LGA of Delta State. One of the key deliverables of this USAID sponsored project is the building of capacities of local NGOs engaged by the Principal Recipients MSH/Africare. Thus many of RIVCHO staff have attended several trainings during the implementation of this project. The most recent been the Organizational

nd thDevelopment (OD) sessions held in Warri 22 to 26 July 2013, proving to be most useful.After some lectures and discussions on the first day, staff & board member present agreed that the vision of RIVCHO needed to be reworded. Thus every area of RIVCHO's corporate person was xrayed in the light of world class best practices and standards. Our mission statement and core values statement were reworked a little bit but our goals had to be completely re-written in the light of our history and where we want to go. Thereafter objectives that were SMART were developed before activities and tasks were derived

thereform. Next was the costing of the various tasks and budgeting. At the end, a strategic plan for five years January 2014 to December 2018 was developed now awaiting Board approval.RIVCHONEWS commends all staff and Board members who were a part of this rigorous process. We also give our utmost thanks to the CUBS project for this all important development. With our DNA clearly defined, RIVCHO is set to fly high!

UBOKO AKPESIRI joins RIVCHO as M & E Officer

n May 2013, Miss Akpesiri Uboko joined RIVCHO as Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. A Igraduate of Medical BioChemistry from the Delta

State University, Akpesiri has her Masters in Public Health (with specialty in Health Promotion and Education) in view this year from the University of Ibadan. Akpesiri had a stint with Ibadan based NGO 'Association for R e p r o d u c t i v e a n d Family Health' (ARFH) b e f o r e c o m i n g t o RIVCHO. Within the short period of her work with RIVCHO so far, RIVCHONEWS can r e p o r t t h a t s h e i s enthusiastic to perform e f f e c t i v e l y a n d efficiently as a public health personnel. Her ability to work with others, meticulous and accurate performance already stands her out. RIVCHONEWS hopes that she will grow with us and contribute her quota to our work for our people.