A few organisations in southern Africa working with HIV/AIDS that deserve support:

If you write to any of these people or send them donations, please tell them you obtained their details from Charlene Smith, otherwise they will be confused as to where the money is coming from and why - and also if they encounter any problems they know how to contact me - Thank you for your kindness, Charlene Smith and the SpeakOut! team

* Queen of the Amapondo, Queen Sigcau, Lusikisiki, Transkei, South Africa, address: Quakeni Great Place, Box 2, Lusikisiki 4820 --- In this area of high HIV infection Queen Sigcau has raised money for a clinic and small skills training projects

* CINDI, Pietermaritzburg, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa, Yvonne Spain, yspain@sai.co.za CINDI is an umbrella organisation of a wide variety of organisations in one of the highest areas of HIV infection in South Africa. The organisation works primarily with AIDS orphans, some very young and many abandoned, but too with women in distress.

* Youth for Christ, Phil Donnell, - This organisation works among young people in Durban and Pietermaritzburg, Kwa Zulu Natal, mostly street children, many of whom are AIDS orphans, some of whom are forced into sex work to survive and some of whom are HIV infected. It tries to reconcile families where possible or to give children skills to help them survive in a safe, constructive way

* Vulindela - Mrs Margaret Shangase, Kwa Zulu Natal Health Department, P O Box 336, Edendale, 3217 South Africa - Vulindela is a wonderful project in the hills of Kwa Zulu Natal near Pietermaritzburg

* Mzamo Youth Group Mphophomeni - Zakhele Xaba, PO Box 10007,Merryvale 3291, South Africa. These young people are among the angels of southern Africa, unemployed themselves, some infected with HIV, they walk often miles to the homes of infected people speak with them, help clean them, fetch water (this is a very poor community), take a little food, , fetch medicines...

* Acornhoek HIV Support Group, c/o Dr. Julia Kim, Dept. of Community Health, University of the Witwatersrand Health Systems Development Unit, P.O. Box 2, Acornhoek, 1360, South Africa // or email: jkim@soft.co.za // A superb support group of HIV+ people who work with a research team and do excellent work going to schools, youth groups, churches, businesses speaking about HIV. Linked to this are small job creation programmes to assist women in particular have increased capacity to care for their children and negotiate safe sex; and job creation for young men to stop some of the dangerous behaviour that fuels HIV transmission.

* Family Aids Caring Trust, 52 Robertson st, Masvingo, Zimbabwe. Bernadette Chimusoro sactnet@mweb.co.zw I talked of the remarkable work of Bernadette on NPR's Fresh Air - there are more than 6 000 AIDS orphans in Masvingo alone - Masvingo is the capital of one of Zimbabwe's 9 provinces. Bernadette has adopted 14 orphans who share a tiny 3-roomed house with her. She does remarkable work not only with other AIDS orphans, including finding school fees and clothes, support groups and food, but runs a number of skills and job creation projects ranging from sewing to the cultivation of small scale crops.

* CFU AIDS desk, Kerry Kay, kerrykay@cfu.co.zw or nickyp@cfu.co.zw or chipesa@zol.co.zw. The highest percentage of HIV infected people in Zimbabwe live in rural areas, and many on farms. Kerry Kay has for more than a decade run some of the finest projects on farms to assist those infected and their orphans, whether paying school fees for orphans and ensuring they are safely accomodated and cared for; or job creation programmes for women; the provisions of supplies to clinics including medicines and the establishment of clinics and payment of medical staff. They care for around 12 000 AIDS orphans.

* Matabeleland AIDS Council, 97a J. Tongogara Street, Bulawayo or PO Box 1280, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. contact: Linda Ngcube This council does excellent work among AIDS orphans and infected men and women.

* HIV Clinic, Johannesburg Hospital - Dr Ian Sanne drian@yebo.co.za or Dr Clive Evian, Jhb hospital HIV clinic, drclive@icon.co.za Although this clinic is situated in the third largest hospital in South Africa, in the largest city and dealing with among the highest rates of HIV (75% of paediatric admissions are infected; 60% of those in the wards) - it is chronically understaffed and underfunded and in perpetual danger of closing down. Because of these challenges it can only run for four hours once a week and has had to limit its patient case load. In addition to assisting people in groundbreaking ARV work among the indigent, they also have sister organisations such as CARE that provide food parcels, counselling and Home Based Care to the ill.

* Creative Young Women, Box 2, Port St Johns, 5120 South Africa - these young women headed by 23 year old Anele Mda, are among the angels of southern Africa, also unemployed, they travel from village to village educating people about HIV, they do Home Based Care visiting the very sick at home, assisting women who have experienced sexual or domestic violence - they are so poor they share a single cellphone between them, the often walk miles because they cannot afford bus or taxi fare to see infected people, and often go hungry themselves, but persist in their work

* Ntabeni clinic - Sister Irene Bopela, Box 406, Munster 4278, South Africa - this is a government clinic but they deal with so many HIV infected people who come from miles and are often desperately hungry that they have opened a soup kitchen which the nurses fund themselves and with donations from the surrounding community. They often get complaints from the provincial government that the soup kitchen has pushed up the electricity bill, but as Sister Bopela says: "how can you try and effectively heal people when they are so hungry? We have to deal with the whole person."