This is a highly cost-effective approach as it does not create a specific bureaucratic structure to deal with the problem but rather extends the services of existing organisations through strong collaboration. The Department of Health in KwaZulu Natal has found that it is unable to implement community-based projects effectively because of the difficulty in releasing funds timeously and in a way that is appropriate in a community setting. This resulted in a partnership agreement between the Department and the AIDS Foundation to pursue community projects with departmental funding. There are three such projects at present. This project commenced in August 1998 and employs five persons living with AIDS in KwaZulu Natal.
Activities centre largely on educational talks and daily interaction with members of the community.
The field workers share their stories as a means of spreading awareness around the disease as well as provide support to those who are infected. The project's message is that people with AIDS can live healthy normal lives if communities do not discriminate against them. The AIDS Foundation took over the management of this programme from the Department of Health in July 1998. It forms part of a broader Lay Counsellor programme operational in KwaZulu Natal. The AIDS Foundation employs sixteen counsellors who are spread throughout the province.