News

Bishop’s University’s Meloche-Monnex interns Kathryn Hansen and Ariane Desmarais-Michaud are completing a study visit to Njombe where they have been assisting the Kibena Women’s Association and the Highlands Hope affiliated youth group KYOFI investigate support available for orphans at public schools in the area.
June 4, 2010.

Ariane Desmarais-Michaud and Kathryn Hansen are Political Studies students from Bishop’s University in Canada doing a second installment in an ongoing study project of the situation of orphans and vulnerable children in Njombe and being recognized for their commitment to building a knowledge-base for change.
May 27, 2010.

Kathryn Hansen and Ariane Desmarais-Michaud are students from Bishop’s University looking at the support given to vulnerable children in public schools in Njombe. They’re working under the supervision of the Kibena Women’s Association and in collaboration with the Kibena Youth organization.
May 21, 2010.

A quick update from Bishop’s University students Ariane Desmarais-Michaud and Kathryn Hansen on their research effort in partnership with the Kibena Women’s Association and KYOFI, both Highlands Hope affiliated community organizations.
May 16, 2010.

Kathryn Hansen and Ariane Desmarais-Michaud from Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada partner with the Kibena Women’s Association and Kibena Youth to study the situation of orphans in Njombe.
May 14, 2010.

Aspen Gagné from Montreal will be traveling to Njombe next week to work with Betty Liduke at the Care and Treatment Centre at Tanwat Company Hospital.
April 24, 2010.

Veronique Fraser writes about visits by CHAKUNIMU and McGill M.Sc. (Nursing) students as her study term comes to an end.
December 6, 2009.

A letter from Amy Low as she and her colleague wrap up their time in Njombe
November 27, 2009.

The Highlands Hope of Tanzania HIV peer educator groups CHAKUNIMU and PIUTA invited the PLWHA human rights organization PIUMA to gather for a week-long learning session on methods for volunteer-driven home based care for families living with HIV.
October 2, 2009.

Veronique Fraser and Amy Low, MSc students from the McGill University School of Nursing, are in their first month of a full term study session with Highlands Hope Nurses at TANWAT Company Hospital in Njombe. This report is from Veronique.
October 1, 2009.

Dr. Zin Zin Winkoko, newly arrived from Burma via graduate studies at Mahidol University in Bangkok, visits Njombe on her way to Makete District.
September 3, 2009.

Highlands Hope program to welcome McGill University School of Nursing students for work/study experiences is featured in The Gazette newspaper in Montreal.
September 3, 2009.

Madeleine Buck and Andra Leimanis from McGill Nurses for Highlands Hope are interviewed on MOntreal radio station.
September 1, 2009.

The link between Highlands Hope of Tanzania and the McGill University School of Nursing continues to grow
August 17, 2009.

Highlands Hope members gather in Ikonda for their quarterly business and learning meeting
July 7, 2009.

An update from Lucie Imbeau and Micah Orr, Meloche-Monnex interns from Canada who are working with the Kibena W0men’s Association and the Kibena Youth Fellowship - both allied with Highlands Hope of Tanzania.
May 8, 2009.

Thanks to a grant from TD Meloche-Monnex, Bishop’s University students Lucie Imbeau and Micah Orr are spending two months with the Kibena Women’s Association and the Kibena Youth Fellowship, both affiliated with Highlands Hope of Tanzania.
May 4, 2009.

Prof. Madeleine Buck, co-author of Fundamentals of Canadian Nursing: Concepts, Process, and Practice, 2nd ed., Assistant Director at the McGill School of Nursing, and founder of McGill Nurses for Highlands Hope, recently announced that she would donate her share of royalties from the textbook to the Highland Hopes Nursing Consortium in Tanzania, which works with HIV-AIDS patients in that country.

Highlands Hope Chair Evangelista Kayombo and Coordinator Betty Liduke arrived in Montreal Saturday evening to begin a series of meetings and presentations with Highlands Hope partners in Canada.
March 30, 2009.

Veneranda Sanga, age 17, died in February, a victim of the substandard health care available from local health authorities and institutions in Bulongwa. This Day newspaper in Dar es Salaam has published an account of her death and the corruption and incompetence that contributed to it.
March 30, 2009

Highlands Hope Chairperson Evangelista Kayombo and Coordinator Betty Liduke will travel to Montreal for two weeks of meetings with partners at McGill University, St. George’s School, St. Lambert United Church, and Bishop’s University.
March 24, 2009.

These updates are arriving from Juma Nzige, Clinical Officer with PIUMA via Vicky Ntetema in Dar es Salaam and Jackson Mbogela, member of the PIUMA Advisory Board in the Netherlands.
March 1, 2009.

Veneranda Sanga was one of the youngest members of PIUMA, an HIV patient activist group in Makete District. All of us who met her are saddened and angered by her needless death. Her very short life is a testament to the fact that incompetence and corruption in parts of the health care system are allowing men, women, and children in Tanzania to die from AIDS well before thier time. Thanks to Ikonda Hospital for trying to save Veneranda, alas, too late.
February 28, 2009.

Betty Liduke has been recognized for her leadership in HIV-AIDS awareness and care by Femina HIP, one of Tanzania’s most effective activist organizations.
February 24, 2009.

Two MSc Nursing students, Andra Leimanis and Jacqueline Bocking, will present the results of their work with Highlands Hope in 2008 at a public lecture at McGill University.
February 3, 2009

Tasilo Mdamu,Secretary of Highlands Hope of Tanzania, has sent the minutes of the last meeting of Highlands Hope of Tanzania that included a presentation by McGill nursing students Jacquie Bocking and Andra Leimanis.
December 29, 2008.

Andra Leimanis is an MSc (Nursing) student in the Global Health option of the McGill University School of Nursing in ontreal. She is studying home-based care for HIV patients with Highlands Hope of Tanzania and the local peer educator group CHAKUNIMU.
November 24, 2008.

Jacquie Bocking is one of two McGill MSc (Nursing) students working and studying with HIghlands Hope Nurses in Njombe. This update tells of the treatment challenges for PLWHAs.
October 27, 2008.

McGill MSc student Andra Leimanis is currently in Tanzania as part of the Highlands Hope - McGill University School of Nursing project. She sends this update.
October 11, 2008.

Jacquie Bocking brings us up to date on the first weeks of learning at TANWAT Hospital
October 4, 2008

Jacqueline Bocking and Andra Leimanis are MSc (Global Health) students from McGill University’s School of Nursing doing a semester of study with Highlands Hope nurse-counsellors at TANWAT Company Hospital, an official McGill training site.
September 16, 2008.

The September meeting of Highlands Hope discusses issues related to HIV positive mothers.
Septemebr 15, 2008.

The partnership between Highlands Hope of Tanzania and the McGill University School of Nursing continues to grow.
September 16, 2008.

An affordable, dependable therapeutic technology for PLWHAs remains banned in Tanzania inspite of its proven performance at Highlands Hope hospitals.
September 3, 2008.

Jackson Mbogela, the former Co-ordinator of PIUMA, says corruption, bureaucratic inertia, and political indifference are the cause of appalling health care in Makete District.
September 1, 2008.

Journalist Finnigan Wa Simbeye reports on corruption and incompetence at Bulongwa Lutheran Hospital and its appalling levels of HIV-AIDS care.
August 31, 2008.

From our partners at PIUMA, the HIV-AIDS patient self-help group in Bulongwa comes this report.
August 29, 2008.

The Dar-es-Salaam newspaper This Day calls on Tanzania leaders to respect the constitution and make decent health care available for all.
August 29, 2008.

The Rt. Hon. Jakaya Kikwete, President of Tanzania, visited Ikonda Consolata Hospital, one of the Highlands Hope health care sites, earlier this week on a tour of Makete District.
August 4, 2008.

Betty Liduke is recognized as a “Leader of Change” in Africa by “A. Magazine”
July 17, 2008.

A look at the life of a member of the HIV-AIDS self-help group PIUMA, part of the Highlands Hope network in southern Tanzania.
July 12, 2008.

PIUMA has established clear policies to promote accountability and prevent corruption, including a focus on financial transparency and a commitment to following best practices in money management. Its 2007 books have received a passing grade from an independent auditor.
July 11. 2008.

Edtorialists at This Day newspaper decry bureaucratic incompetence and cite PIUMA’s struggle with port authorities as symptomatic of larger problems.
July 10. 2008.

A report by Wema Sanga on the protest delegation of PIUMA at the Arusha gathering of the ELCT (in Kiswahili).
July 10, 2008

Sylvie Lambert, McGill Nurses for Highlands Hope Fellow in 2007, reports that Highlands Hope work on pain management education will be featured at the “Future Nursing and Health Workforce: a Global Challenge Conference” in Toronto later this summer.
June 8, 2008

PIUMA spirit strong in Ilolo and Utanziwa; a report from Canadian Friends of Highlands Hope summer intern, Gabe Maldoff.
July 7th, 2008

PIUMA honoured at TANGO meeting in Mbeya: set to represent Makete in district committee and Iringa on TVT
July 6th, 2008

Sasa wanachama wa PIUMA wameamua kuanzisha timu ya mpira wa miguu ili kupima afya zao. Timu hii imeshaanza mazoezi taraya kwa ajili ya kujipima afya na wanataka kuanza kushindana na mashirika mengine ya watu wanaoishi na VVU.
July 3, 2008

The Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper published a major investigative piece on corruption in the home Lutheran diocese of PIUMA. The Lutheran church runs most local health services in the area and is charged with theft and fraud in recent years.
July 2, 2008.

As PIUMA’s Hima-VCT verges on re-opening this week, Clinical Officer, Juma Nzige, has written this assessment of members’ health statuses after more than three months without an operational Voluntary Counselling and Treatment center.
July 1, 2008.

From June 30th to July 6th, PIUMA will be attending and presenting at the national TANGO meeting. TANGO, an acronym for Tanzania NGO, or Non-Governmental Organization, will take place in Mbeya and will be attended by representatives from each of the 58 districts in Tanzania.
June 30, 2008.

A five person delegation from PIUMA led by Jackson Mbogela and Weman Sanga are in Arusha today demanding an end to theft and fraud in the Lutheran health care system and better care for PLWHAs in Makete District. (Press release in English, Kiswahili and German)
June 30, 2008.

The Frankfurter Rundschau reports on PIUMA and its fight to end corruption in local church and health systems.
June 27, 2008.

Hii ni taarifa ya ujenzi kwenye Jengo la PIUMA, tunashushukuru kwa misaada ya wafadhili na marafiki wote wa PIUMA kwa michango yenu mnayotoa kwa ajili ya kuisaidia PIUMA kwa mambo mbalimbali

UTANGULIZI: Kikao cha kamati zote za PIUMA kimefanyika jana tarehe tajwa hapo juu kwa ajili ya kuwaelimishwa wajumbe wa kamati kujua wajibu wa kazi kwa kila kamati, kikao kilifunguliwa saa 4:00 asubuhi.
Mwenyekiti aliwaeleza wajumbe kuwa tumetembelewa na mgeni toka Canada ambaye amekuja kututembelea, na mgeni huyu amekuja na vifaa vifuatavyo.

For the first time since the creation of PIUMA’s Financial & Planning Committee last month, the committee met with PIUMA’s Executive Committee. The purpose of the meeting was to begin working together to forge collective objectives.
June 26, 2008

The local coordinating committee for HIV-AIDS services recognizes PIUMA as the most effective service provider and decries the lack of support from local officials.
June 25, 2008.

On Saturday, June 21st, Highlands Hope affiliate NGO, Chakunimu, held an information session in the village of Mlevele, just outside of Njombe. The session was used to spread awareness of HIV and the importance of testing.
June 24, 2008

Dar es Salaam journalist and columnist Finnigan wa Simbeye reviews the issue of fraud and theft at Bulongwa Lutheran Hospital that led to PIUMA’s struggle against corruption and injustice in the health care system in Makete District.
June 23, 2008.

Minutes of the regular meeting of Highlands Hope nurse-counsellors reviewing education needs for members
June 11, 2008

PIUMA working with its partners the Canadian Friends of Highlands Hope, Lindsay Place High School, and Plank Design of Montreal will welcome a Canadian university student this summer to go online with PIUMA’s story and activities.
June 7, 2008.

St. George’s School in Montreal has been working with the Kibena Women’s Association, an affiliated group with Highlands Hope of Tanzania, for two years to support orphan children in Njombe.
June 3, 2008.

The PLWHA self-help group PIUMA has made great progress on its new headquarters and clinic space in Bulongwa
May 19, 2008

Fund-raising concert in Vienna spreads PIUMA’s message of solidarity and hope
May 15, 2008

The Nursing Executive Committee of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal offers to partner with Highlands Hope
April 27, 2008

Members of the PLWHA self-help and advocacy group PIUMA make the trip to Dar es Salaam for lobbying and training
April 26, 2008

PIUMA members are increasingly invited to be part of local and national training initiatives to fight HIV-AIDS.
April 19, 2008

Graduating Students of Lindsay Place High School in Pointe Claire, Canada, will be holding a “24-hour Famine Fundraiser” to raise money to support Highlands Hope.
April 18, 2008

PIUMA, the HIV-AIDS patients’ advocacy group in Makete District, has hired a new Coordinator, Clinical Officer and VCT-Home Based Care Nurse.

April 12, 2008.

A press release from Canadian Friends of Highlands Hope and McGill Nurses for Highlands Hope as they move into the second phase of the development of their project to support the networking and professional training of nurses working in hospitals and HIV-AIDS clinics in Africa through Highlands Hope of Tanzania.

April 11, 2008.

PIUMA leaders discuss a number of important issues and make decisions to demand support to continue their Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centre and to focus their financial resources on the completion of the PIUMA building.

Report by Witness Ngumba
March 12, 2008

Highlands Hope nurses gathered for their regular meeting and had a clinical presentation and discussion on couples living with HIV.
March 7, 2008

“We’re excited to be moving forward with this,” says Associate Director of the McGill School of Nursing, Prof. Madeleine Buck. “This builds on the very positive relationship that we have with TANWAT and with nurse and Highlands Hope of Tanzania Coordinator Betty Liduke.”
February 24, 2008.

Canadian and Tanzanian nurses work together to optimize pain management in a resource poor setting
February 11, 2008.

Highlands Hope of Tanzania has just published a brief report on 2006-2007 activities and a look ahead at priorities for 2008.
February 4, 2008

Bulongwa is the home of PIUMA and Highlands Hope’s most remote setting. This article by Barney Jopson describes the isolation of the people in rural Makete and the impact of HIV on communities there.
January 12, 2008.

PIUMA trustee Rayben Sanga leads very successful financial management seminar with volunteers in Bulongwa
January 2, 2008.

A note from Sylvie Lambert, a Canadian nurse working with Highlands Hope of Tanzania, about Christmas with the Kibena Women’s Association and the orphans that they support in Njombe.
December 30, 2007.

Muhingo Rweyemamu is the editor of the weekly investigative newspaper RAI in Dar es Salaam. He has reported extensively on the HIV situation in Iringa, Njombe and Makete. This piece appeared last week in his newspaper. It was translated by Vicky Ntetema of the BBC Africa Service.
December 26, 2007.

In what is becoming an annual gathering, Highlands Hope of Tanzania and the Kibena Women’s Association held a Boxing Day celebration for orphans, many of them the victims of HIV in their families, in the town of Njmobe.
December 26, 2007.

PIUMA leader Wema Sanga and senior advisor Muhingo Rweyemamu returned to Tanzania after a very successful round of meetings with Austrian supporters and partners. Extensive coverage is available at a new blog-site, elisabethzenz.blogspot.com
December 15, 2007

More than 1,800 men and women tested in PIUMA’s village-based HIV testing drive since mid-October
December 9, 2007.

Wema Sanga, senior volunteer leader of the HIV patient advocacy group PIUMA, addressed members of the Austrian parliament and others concerned about HIV-AIDS in Tanzania.
December 6, 2007.

Highlands Hope of Tanzania’s regular meeting of nurse-counsellors at Ikonda coincided with World AIDS Day this year with a special focus on the rights of children, especially those with HIV and those orphaned by the disease.
December 5, 2007.

A busy weekend in Njombe for Montreal nursing PhD candidate Sylvie Lambert who is in Tanzania working on pain management issues with Highlands Hope of Tanzania nurse-counsellors.
December 4, 2007.

Sylvie Lambert is the second holder of the McGill Nurses for Highlands Hope Fellowship and is working to develop training resources for HIV nurse-counsellors in partnership with Highlands Hope of Tanzania.
November 29, 2007.

Tanzanian and Austrian volunteers with PIUMA recognized for international solidarity in the fight against HIV-AIDS in Tanzania.
November 24, 2007

The student Nursing Society from Saint Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia is generously supporting a nursing student in Njombe in partnership with Highlands Hope of Tanzania.
November 23, 2007.

PIUMA leader Wema Sanga and Tanzanian jounalist and PIUMA advisor Muhingo Rweyemamu are touring Austria, meeting AIDS acitivists, politicians, and supporters in Vienna, Salzburg, Pöllau and Graz.
November 15, 2007.

McGill Nurses for Highlands Hope and Nurses in the Makete region of Tanzania working together towards optimal pain assessment and management in children
November 8, 2007.

Sylvie Lambert, a PhD candidate at the McGill School of Nursing, is the second recipient of the McGill Nurses for Highlands Hope Fellowship and leaves for Tanzania in November.
October 19, 2007.

PIUMA, the HIV patient activist group, is launching a major campaign to get testing service to more than twenty villages in the Bulongwa area of Makete. PIUMA has been recognized by local health authorities as a valued partner in efforts to meet the goal of full testing of the entire population of Tanzania, consistent with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete’s challenge.
October 16, 2007

More than 25 widows and widowers learned how to defend their interests and those of others left alone by HIV-AIDS in a three day workshop sponsored by the Kibena Women’s Association, Highlands Hope of Tanzania, and St George’s Elementary School of Montreal.
October 15, 2007.

New members from new organizations are expanding Highlands Hope of Tanzania with an ongoing focus on best practices and solidarity among nurses fighting the HIV battle.
September 15, 2007.

Michael Wou, designer of PIUMA’s new logo and one of the Canadian marchers on the July Solidarity March, has his autographed American Apparel T-shirt featured on the company’s website.
September 2, 2007.

A Canadian partner’s account of this summer’s PIUMA Solidarity March.
By James Hughes
August 28, 2007.

Nursing students from Austria bring enthusiasm and knowledge to Makete District
August 21, 2007.

Highlands Hope Tanzania commits itself to “work in partnership with Njombe and Makete communities to achieve health which takes into consideration of physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, sexual and social well being” in its plan for 2007-2008.
August 10, 2007.

A three day, 96 kilometer march by PIUMA activists and Canadian friends brings HIV awareness to several villages and re-launches PIUMA voluntary counselling and testing services at the village level.
July 14, 2007.

Nursing students from Vienna and medical students from McGill University to learn in Bulongwa this summer.
July 3, 2007.

Good design helps PIUMA carry its message to the people of Tanzania and the world.
June 30, 2007.

Montreal design firm Origami partners with Canadian Friends of Highlands Hope and PIUMA to create a powerful new visual identity for the Makete patient activist group.
June 25, 2007.

The District Medical Officer of Makete has approved PIUMA’s request to restart clinic and village-based voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). This follows months of applications and lobbying and is a great victory for patient-based approaches to battling HIV in rural Tanzania.
June 20, 2007.

The Nurse-Counsellor Network is moving from strength to strength as it elects Evangelista Kayombo as its second Chairperson and appoints pioneering HIV nurse Betty Liduke as its first coordinator.
June 9, 2007.

Partec’s CyScope® mobile fluorescence microscope received the Innovation Award of the State Ministry of Economy and Employment in Dresden as “best contribution to biotechnology / life sciences” from among 72 competitors.
June 2, 2007.

Muhingo Rweyemamu, editor of the weekly Dar es Salaam newspaper, Rai, and founder of the new residential secondary school in Ilula, establishes scholarships for AIDS orphans in Makete District.
May 23. 2007.

News from Canadian Friends of Highlands Hope including plans for the solidarity march with PIUMA.
May 13, 2007.

Nurse-counselors with Highlands Hope clinics and patient groups are working on their basic computer skills through a partnership between the Highlands Hope Nurse-Counsellor Network and McGill Nurses for Highlands Hope.
May 10, 2007.

The HIV+ patients’ activist group PIUMA has begun work on the interior of its new offices and programming centre in Bulongwa.
April 29, 2007.

The HIV Care and Treatment Centre (CTC) at TANWAT Hospital in Njombe continues its steady growth with a total of 113 new clients counseled and tested between January and March.
April 20, 2007.

The four person lobbying delegation to Dar es Salaam returned today to great accliam from the leaders and members of PIUMA. The patients’ group says it is more convinced than ever that self-help is the source of its strongest hope for the future.
April 16, 2007.

At the mid-point of a three-day networking and advocacy trip to Dar es Salaam, PIUMA holds a press conference to discuss the dire situation in Makete District with reporters.
April 12, 2007.

St. George’s Elementary School in Montreal supports the Kibena Women’s Association as well as local teachers in Njombe as part of its “Children Helping Children” awareness campaign.
April 12, 2007

PIUMA members learn about accountability in NGO resource management
April 11, 2007.

Canadian Friends of Highlands Hope nursing advisor dedicates new nursing text book to Betty Liduke, Mary Musoma and other nurses at Highlands Hope Tanzania.
April 3, 2007.

PIUMA leases new space for HIV services in Bulongwa
March 22, 2007.

PIUMA, the HIV+ patients’ self-help group in Makete District, has adopted a Code of Conduct designed to fight corruption and encourage accountability in all its work providing HIV services and support in the District.
March 6. 2007.

Minutes of the meeting of the Highlands Hope Consortium Nurse Counselor Network in Ikonda
March 6, 2007.

The Highlands Hope network will be looking at ways to extend the use of computerized medical records for better patient care and enhanced efficiency over the next year as a priority issue.
March 3, 2007.

The HIV+ self-help patients’ group PIUMA has demanded that money stolen from health care funds in Makete District be recovered or replaced by Lutheran church officials and donors.
February 12, 2007.

McGill Family Health physicians, Dr. Alison Doucet and Dr. Rick Mah, visit Highlands Hope sites in Njombe and Makete Districts, St. George’s Elementary School partners to support orphans and other news from Canadian Friends.
February 9, 2007.

The Secretary of the Highlands Hope Consortium Nurse-Counsellor Network, Tasilo Mdamu, has just been awarded a McGill Nurses for Highlands Hope Fellowship to assist him in advanced studies in public health in Iringa.
January 31, 2007.