The answer to poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa will not be simple or prescriptive. Instead, answers are likely to come at the community level, dependent on those communities’ needs and the challenges that face them. Given this fact, SAPEP works to engage communities by empowering them to fight their own battles through the provision of training, resources and investment opportunities.

It is our AIDS Action Clubs that are leading the way in mobilising their communities against poverty and HIV/AIDS. We cannot do this job for them but we can facilitate their work which allows us to reach more communities, more vulnerable people and have a greater impact.

We have five projects:

• Prevention
• Economic Empowerment
• Care and Support
• Community Positive Living
• Nkolola

But really, everything we do is interconnected.

Our line of work is known as “capacity building” which basically means giving people the skills and resources to do things for themselves.

The methodology that we promote is peer education which is an approach to tackling a problem that engages and facilitates the community to spread a positive message.