National Coordinating Coalition » United Bricklayers

General Information

Brief History

Strategic Direction

Strengths & Specialities

Success Story

HIV/AIDS Services

Community & Social Services

Community Impact

Overview
United Bricklayers strives to achieve fundamental socio-economic outcomes by acting as a vehicle for change through empowerment. It facilitates and advocates for the social and economic development of the most vulnerable by reinforcing prevention programmes aimed at strengthening families, upholding sensitive cultural values, facilitating positive behavioural change and promoting responsible sexual behaviour.

Years of Service
Eight (8) years.

Geographic Reach/Location
[maplist locationstoshow=”4378″ showdirections=”false” hidecategoriesonitems=”true” hideviewdetailbuttons=”true” expandsingleresult=”false” categoriesmultiselect=”false” streetview=”false” showthumbnailicon=”true” hidesearch=”true” hidefilter=”true” hidesort=”true” viewstyle=”maponly” locationsperpage=”3″]

Partners

Ministry of Public Health – New Amsterdam Family Health Clinic/New Amsterdam Hospital/Berbice Regional Health Authority (BRHA) – Sensitise health care workers as well as strengthen the established relationship to reduce stigma and discrimination; navigate key affected populations for STI screening, care and treatment. We are the main collaborative partner of the BRHA for their annual National Week of Testing activities.

St. Francis Community Developers – Mentoring services facilitated through workshops.

National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) – Capacity building primarily training and technical support, main source of male and female condoms, lubricants, behaviour change communication (BCC) materials. United Bricklayers has partnered with NAPS since we have a further reach and this contributes to the national response. Monthly reports are submitted to NAPS for inclusion in their national report.

Banks DIH Limited – Sponsorship of fund raising activities

Mayor and Town Council, Regional Democratic Council, UNDP – Workshops to integrate HIV prevention in local government policy and planning

University of Guyana, Berbice Campus – Research and development.

Owners/operators of hotspots occasioned by key affected populations – Collaborative efforts are focused on preventing the spread of HIV and other STIs by educating female sex workers (FSWs) and men who sex with men (MSM) on preventative measures, distribution of BCC materials, etc

Inter-ministerial collaboration with Ministry of Social Protection and Ministry of Education – Support of literacy programmes for children of FSWs

Other legal, social and welfare organisations such as salons and rehabilitation centres- Economic strengthening as well as internships.

Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association – access to STI screening for FSWs and MSM.

United Bricklayers is the brainchild of Ms Juanita Burrowes who believed that entertainment and education should be the vehicle for assisting young people to channel their energies to productive activities. Ms. Burrowes had volunteered with the Comforting Hearts NGO for over six (6) years and saw the need for a programme focused specifically on key affected populations (KAPS) and orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). She enlisted the help of family and friends and so United Bricklayers was born in May 2007. The organization was established officially and registered with the Office of Registrar of Friendly Societies on May 8th 2008 but its operations were primarily volunteer supported until October 2008.

The organisation started informally with bottom-house meetings and outreach sessions at various locations. Funding was applied for and granted in October 2008, with the first international financing being secured from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This was realized after Ms. Burrowes secured the services of Ms. Eulanie Ouseley-Torrezao (through her husband) who volunteered to prepare the proposal for funding. Ms. Ouseley-Torrezao was then asked to serve on the Board of Directors and upon the request of Guyana HIV/AIDS Reduction and Prevention (GHARP) II Project In October 2008 transitioned to the role of Project Coordinator.

To date, the Global Fund has been the main source of funding with other ad hoc monetary support received from organisations/individuals such as:

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Banks DIH Limited, GT&T, NBS and other agencies from the private sector

Food for the Poor

Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club

St. Francis Community Developers

US Embassy Ambassador’s Fund

Public spirited citizens

Fund raising activities – BBQ, concerts, bingos, raffles, donation sheets, etc.

United Bricklayers is governed by a Board of Directors and employs a Project Coordinator, Prevention Coordinator, Administrative/Accounting Officer, Counselling and Testing Officer (CTO), Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, Social Worker, and Peer Educators. It is also supported by part-time volunteers.

Purpose
United Bricklayers (a non-profit and voluntary organisation) serves as a vehicle for change through empowerment, and strives to achieve fundamental socio-economic outcomes by reinforcing prevention programmes aimed at strengthening family units and upholding appropriate cultural values together with promoting positive behavioural change and responsible sexual behaviour. Our goals are to:

Increase the knowledge of the effective approaches and techniques for HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention.

Ensure adequate access to existing health services in terms of HIV and other STI screening, treatment, care and support.

Raise awareness at all levels through advocacy and social mobilisation to create a supportive environment for persons affected by HIV/AIDS.

Improve the social and economic conditions – education, health, religion, development and quality of life- for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs).

Support families and households coping with an increased burden of care for OVCs through education, health care, counseling, etc.

Encourage fostering and retention of OVCs within their families and communities to promote their socio-economic and psychosocial development.

Strengthen/build capacities in community based systems for sustained care and support to OVCs and households through awareness creation.

Through our programme of activities, we will focus on targeting the key affected populations (KAPs) through peer education, condom and lubricant promotion and distribution, risk reduction and risk assessment, economic strengthening, referral for screening, care and treatment, voluntary counselling and testing,, and behaviour change activities i.e. support groups and capacity building sessions designed to address stigma and discrimination, and impart skills that will provide alternative means of generating income. Activities specifically related to the progamme also consists of sensitisation sessions with owners and managers of locations visited by KAPs, risk reduction counselling sessions, training for peer educators (men who have sex with men (MSM) and female sex workers (FSWs)) among others.

Aspirations for the Future
Sustainability of the programmatic activities, scaling up to tackle issues of gender-based violence, suicide, owning our own land and building.

Skills & Strengths
The following strategies are normally used to enable efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery:

Collaboration with other organisations to provide access to STI, other health and social related services.

Social networking/snowball strategies to reach closeted men who have sex with men (MSM), home based sex workers, clients of sex workers and increase access to HIV testing as well as STI screening.

Case navigation to increase access to all referral services and track referral uptake as well as minimise barriers when accessing services by working with health care workers to reduce stigma and discrimination.

Liaison with popular opinion leaders to mobilize key affected populations (KAPs) and strengthen current informational activities on behaviour change.

Edutainment as a reinforcement methodology to promote behaviour change.

Use of bar, brothel, hotel, restaurant owners and operators as change agents to ensure condoms, behaviour change communication (BCC) materials and lubricants are available (e.g. in hotel rooms) and that KAPS are accessing and using same.

Building the capacity of KAPs to provide risk-reduction information to their clients.

United Bricklayers has been implementing USAID-funded KAPs projects since October 2008. The organisation is equipped with trained and experienced staff who can successfully manage and execute such projects. Female sex workers (FSWs) and men who have sex with men (MSM) peer educators have benefitted from various trainings through the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) as well as the Guyana HIV/AIDS Reduction and Prevention Project (GHARP) in areas such as community mobilization, stigma and discrimination, outreach facilitation, case navigation, cross-cutting areas, communication, social networking, career guidance and work readiness, among others.

Speciality of Activities
These include the creation of collaborative teams drawn from the Police Force, health care centres, key populations (KPs) hotspots and on-site home and community-based services and which resulted in 100% service access of KPs referred.

Ten (10) female sex workers (FSWs) were offered economic strengthening services (sewing, food and nutrition, cosmetology). All graduated. Two (2) FSWs stopped sex work after receiving training and started their own businesses.

Collaboration with the Police Force and health care centres resulted in quarterly stigma and discrimination sessions for police officers and health care workers with each session being attended by twenty (20) participants. This resulted in creating easy access to services for the target groups as the levels of discrimination reduced significantly over a period of time.

Number of Services

Mapping of key populations (KPs) hotspots

Sensitisation sessions which targeted KPs hotspots, health care centres, and the Police Force

Education outreach sessions held thrice per week

Targeting at least four (4) locations per week

Basic HIV & STI Information, condom negotiation, condom & lubricant use, hygiene, etc.

Distribution of behaviour change communication (BCC) materials

HIV counselling and testing

Referrals and navigation into services

Support group sessions

Risk reduction assessment and counselling

Beneficiaries of Services
Men who have sex with men (MSM), female sex workers (FSWs), transgender persons (TGs), youths, men, women and children, pregnant women.

Locations or Reach
We serve the entire regions 5 and Regions 6 including New Amsterdam, East Bank Berbice, East Canje, Tain, Corentyne.

Beneficiaries of Services
Men, women, children.

During a six (6) month period from July 2015 to December 2015 two hundred and forty-one (241) men who have sex with men (MSM) and two hundred and ninety-eight (298) female sex workers (FSWs) benefitted from HIV related services and other cross cutting services; of which two hundred and thirty-one (231) MSM and two hundred and eighty-eight (288) FSWs were tested.

During a special three (3) day outreach in Morakobai region 5, fifty-two (52) FSWs and eight (8) MSM were tested.

Forty (40) health care workers and forty (40) police officers received gender-based violence along with stigma and discrimination training. Additionally, ten (10) peer educators received training.

Member Contact Information | Phone: 592-333-3322 Address: 25 Charles Place, New Amsterdam, Berbice