VISION
To spread good development practice, through appropriate training, implementation, research and dissemination of holistic and sustainable community based environmental health promotion programmes that utilize the Community Health Club (“CHC”) approach so as to serve and empower rural and urban communities throughout developing countries.
3. MISSION STATEMENT
To prevent disease and combat poverty by building the capacity of community through sustainable and holistic development, through establishing a “Culture of Health” and “Common Unity” increasing social capital, knowledge and safe health practices.
4. MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE ORGANISATION
To promote the replication, adaptation and scaling up of the Community Health Club Approach to enhance hygiene changing behaviour, strengthen social capital, self reliance and sustainable livelihoods.
5. PRINCIPLES OF INTERVENTION
AHEAD supports rural and urban communities through training and self help interventions according to the fundamental guiding principles of independence, neutrality, non-discrimination, free and direct access to populations, professionalism and transparency.
6. FOUNDERS
The Founders of Zimbabwe AHEAD and Africa AHEAD are Dr. Juliet Waterkeyn and Mr. Anthony Waterkeyn, referred to henceforth as ‘the Founders’, who originally pioneered the CHC Model of community development in 1995, and who hold the intellectual property of the CHC Model of development.
7. REGISTRATION OF PARTNER ORGANISATIONS
USA-AHEAD (registering in USA as Not for Profit 503(c) (3) EIN: 38-3862007) is based upon the same principles as the Zimbabwe AHEAD Organisation, which was started by the Founders and registered as a Trust in October 2001, in Harare (MA1380/2001), and the Africa AHEAD Association in South Africa, which was also started by the Founders and registered as a Section 21 Not for Profit Company, in South Africa (2005/040379/08).
11. ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANISATION
11.1. Training: to provide practical training for local and international NGO/government officers in the CHC Approach
11.2. Research: to provide opportunities for local and international research students to conduct their research in CHC projects in Zimbabwe based at the Regional Resource Centre.
11.3. Demonstration: to enable NGOs and Development Partners from other countries to learn about the CHC approach and conduct field visits to CHC projects
11.4. Mentoring: provide on-going back-stopping, quality control and support to those NGOs that have adopted the CHC approach.
11.5. Monitoring: to provide rigorous monitoring of community behavior change in CHC programmes.
11.6. Evaluation: conduct evaluations both in country and internationally as to the relative achievements of CHC projects and other development strategies.
11.7. Implementation: to design programmes that use Community Health Clubs cost-effectively.
11.8. Training: to provide training for health and hygiene promotion, water and sanitation programmes, skills training and agricultural projects as required by communities.
11.9. Training Materials: to provide support for the Community Health Club approach to be adapted for other countries by assisting in the development of new training materials and manuals.
11.10. Documentation: to provide continual documentation of all projects and running records kept on the website and other networking forums. To write scientific papers for peer review and ensure a continuous publication of research into the mechanism of the Community health Club Approach.
11.11. Advocacy: to provide information and advocacy of the approach to other governments, Ministry of Health, international organization, addressing conferences, lecture tours etc.
11.12. Scaling up: to provide necessary advice at Policy level for governments to adopt the CHC approach into national and integrated programmes at scale.
11.13. Commercial Linkage: to provide the authentic opportunities into communities in developing countries for commercial opportunities, carbon trading and fair-trade through income generating groups.
11.14. Development Linkage: to provide linkages for other philanthropic organisations wanting to use Community Health Clubs
11.15. Cultural Exchange: to enhance interconnectivity between the developed and developing countries for exchange of cultural knowledge and understand to further world peace and connectivity.
The AHEAD MODEL is attractive to funding agencies because it…
- Stimulates a demand for sanitation to meet United Nations Millennium Development Goals
- Provides quantifiable outputs in hygiene behaviour change
- Proven to be a Health Promotion Cost-Effective Model over past decade
- Guarantees high levels of hygiene improvement
- Replicable in all developing countries
- Can be scaled up to national level
- Leads to development initiatives in other sectors
- Most effective with the poorest of the poor
- Appropriate in peri-urban or rural areas
- Appropriate in for long term development or quick emergency programmes
- Provides a clear exit strategy once communities are functional
COMMUNITY HEALTH CLUBS are appropriate for most communities because they …
- Reduce communicable diseases through good home hygiene
- Modify habitual, detrimental hygiene behaviour through group consensus
- Build a ‘common unity’ of purpose within community
- Initiate a Community Based Organisation useful for all development
- Are sustainable by communities after exit of donors
- Promote creative problem-solving with participatory activities
- Ensure informed decision making through participation
- Break the ‘Cycle of Poverty’ and promote local industry
- Use positive traditional values of consensus to effect change
- Empower women in particular to become confident
- Meet the need created by intellectual starvation
- Provide support for disadvantaged and terminally ill
- Attract other donors looking for well organised communities
