1 FXB-Village in Barranquilla, Colombia

Providing comprehensive home-based care and treatment to destitute children living with HIV and AIDS and improving their living conditions

In 1992, FXB launched a program in the port city of Barranquilla, located in the northern part of Colombia, to respond to the growing precariousness of families infected and/or affected by HIV and AIDS. These families are often stigmatized and discriminated against because of their HIV status. The situation is even worse for children who are abandoned or whose parents are unable to care for them because of the brunt of the disease.

FXB functions on the premise that children will have a better and longer life if they evolve in a secure and nurturing family environment. The FXB House is both a community and daycare center and offers  loving care to children who are orphaned, HIV-positive or suffering from AIDS. It proposes a comprehensive intervention, which not only benefits the children and their families, but also the local community by encouraging those at risk to go for testing and if infected to go for treatment.

FXB organizes informative programs on HIV and AIDS and human rights for the wider community as well as for young people, with the support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Barranquilla, Soledad, Malambo and Cartagena.

FXB expanded its services in Colombia with the introduction of an FXB-Village in Barranquilla in 2010.

STRATEGIES

• Provide comprehensive medical support to abandoned and/or orphaned children living with HIV and AIDS and the family or community member who cares for them. The medications include Highly Active Anti Retroviral Treatment and other HIV and AIDS related diagnosis and treatment.
• Monitor the nutritional status of children as well as provide nutritional support.
• Provide psychosocial support to help beneficiaries cope with the direct and indirect consequences of disease.
• Prevent HIV Transmission from Mother-to-Child throughout Barranquilla through a program led with partners, health providers, government agencies, universities and especially with HIV positive pregnant women. FXB encourages counseling, testing and facilitate access to comprehensive care and treatment services including ARV therapy. FXB has provided support to health departments in the implementation of the programs, targeting pregnant women in all municipalities of the Guajira Department, with the support of Cerrejon, a carboniferous private corporation.
• Organization of recreational and educational activities, aimed at facilitating prevention and reducing stigma and discrimination.
• Prevent HIV by organizing training and information sessions on hygiene, primary care, nutrition, reproductive health, STDs, screening and treatment. These sessions are specifically designed to respond to the specific educational needs of beneficiaries, adolescents and the community.
• Collaborate with staff of the Colombian Institute of Welfare to improve the support they provide to beneficiary families.
• Organize workshops for health care personnel on clinical management of HIV and AIDS.

FXB operations in this country are supported, through financial or in-kind donations, by:

• Angelwish
• Colombian Institute of Family Welfare
• Fondation Marc
• Project Carbones del Cerrejon
• Wendy Reyes
• Private donors