AVEGA’s programmes use different approaches called “models” to accomplish the association goals. With a particular wise guidance of understanding, the model are not only structured to simply deliver impact to the beneficiaries, but also appear in action/projects as a simplifier, sustainable and cost effective and possible to be replicated and scaled up because they are all revealed to strongly appear correct in all forms with significant measurement and effects to the recipients.
- 1. Community Based Counseling Model
Impression: even though, the time passes but the wounds of the genocide remain fresh and need constant therapeutic tools for survivors welfare. Decentralizing psychotherapy up to village level could be a holistic way for mental health management.
Intention: it aims at minimizing the time it takes a counselor by profession to reach the patients and identify the situation psychoanalysis at the right time.
Illustration: AVEGA’s counselllors provide both individual and group counselling to the genocide survivors. It works closely with different passionate stakeholders to provide a range of counselling and therapy services across the country. Much focus put in issues such as PTSD, trauma, depression, anxiety and substance abuse which prevents people from living productive and fulfilling lives. These services are decentralised across the country, headed by qualified counsellors in each district and supported by a network of trained psycho-social support workers living within communities. This means that there is always a point of contact for anyone requiring extra support. Mobile clinics also travel throughout districts to help identify and treat those who might not easily be able to reach a mental health support worker.
- 2. Community Based Sexual and Reproductive Health Model
Impression: Seeing the pregnant young girls and young women aging 20 to 30 with 3 children and still freely living out of family planning, has pushed the association to intervene with sexual and reproductive health awareness.
Intention: It aims at explaining in a broader sense and raises the attendants’ understandings for sexual and reproductive health and helps them to oversee the most negative impact of improper SRH to households, community and national development.
Illustration: The AVEGA’s health facilities work closely with community health workers to avail most accessible sexual and reproductive health services at village level. At this point, some services including follow-up of pregnant women, family planning methods, youth programmes, etc have been decentralized and show significant impact to motherly and adolescent mortality and fertility calibration. Community health workers have been trained for primary health services and regular follow ups are monitored by nurses of our health centers. GBV, adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health and rights have been the points to pounder at village level for generation and community healthier.
- 3. Household Savings and Loans Model
Impression: Observing vulnerable people in a community facing timely intricacies had pushed the association to structure a model responding to beneficiaries’ economic difficulties. It was structured under the self help group approach enabling recipients to raise a self-reliance habit without waiting for livelihood external influencer.
Intention: It aims at contributing to socio-economic empowerment and advancement of the beneficiaries for effective participation in community development.
Illustration: The beneficiaries’ sustainable welfare is the core reason that pushes up AVEGA to schedule appropriate approaches. People used to save from a single coin to medium savings resulted from positive group’s feedbacks. This model targets to alleviate poverty and hunger, as well as providing strong social networks for members to share knowledge and motivate one another. The development of savings and lending culture has made it possible for savings groups to support local business start-ups and many businesses have been able to expand from small to medium with this support.
- 4. Tubasindagize Model
Impression: A number of elderly widows keep increasing time after time with the old age illness and general inability. Thus, AVEGA has structured an approach entitled Tubasindagize or let us accompany them up to the end of life.
Intention: It aims at inhabiting elderly genocide widows mostly the left alone widows and be covered and taken care for all so that their livelihoods can be improved for healthy aging and continue to contribute to the nation’s development.
Illustration: AVEGA Agahozo has addressed an issue of elderly widows “Intwaza” unable to live alone in their homes due to elderliness surviving inability to take care of themselves and for their small jobs, and structured a model to bring them together in elderly homes “Impinganzima” for proper and better follow ups and cared for better off and healthy aging.
In partnership with FARG, AVEGA runs four elderly care homes for widows without families to support them. These are located in Huye, Nyanza, Bugesera and Rusizi districts. Widows living alone throughout the country can move into these homes, referred to as Impinganzima facilities. They receive specialist healthcare and mental health support, as well as food, clothing, and social activities with fellow residents. This helps to prevent isolation, loneliness and issues such as malnutrition which can occur when end-of-life care is not available and a person can no longer support themselves. As well as the four main Impinganzima facilities, AVEGA run a number of smaller locally managed care homes in remote and rural regions, which adhere to the same standards and level of care as the main branches.
The model has proven to be prolific and protecting all the risks that may come to the old aged widows. It even facilitates an implementation of a given project; the most recognized was “the Elderly Widows Legal Assistance Project (EWLAP)” through which AVEGA provided high quality legal aid services to its members, ensuring that everybody has access to representation regardless of income. Elderly widows without surviving family have been supported in defending, promoting and protecting their legal rights. As well as property and inheritance rights, many also requested assistance drafting wills and proxy-management contracts, akin to power of attorney. From the significance of the above project the model continues to be perfect and indisputable.