In the summer of 2002, the AFT launched its first Africa HIV/AIDS project with the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA). At the time, African teachers received very little support despite growing evidence that AIDS was having a devastating impact on education. In many African countries where infection rates are of epidemic proportions, teachers have the regrettable distinction of the being the highest-infected professional sector.

AIDS is overwhelming the profession with astounding death tolls, mitigating absences due to HIV-induced illness, discrimination and isolation in the school workplace and schools turned into care centers for millions of children orphaned by the pandemic.

HIV Infection Rates Among South African Teachers ELRC/HSRC Study 2004

 With AFT membership contributions and a small matching grant from the U.S. government, the AFT formed a partnership with ZIMTA to develop and implement an AIDS project, Teachers Caring for Teachers, that became a prototype for teacher unions throughout Africa. Today the AFT Educational Foundation works with eight unions in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya to provide support for teachers infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.

The project has generated more than $20 million in U.S. government funding and reached more than 750,000 teachers in the three countries. Generous AFT membership contributions of almost $200,000 provided
seed funding for pilot programs in each of the countries that laid the foundation for increased U.S. government
support.

AFT partners in South Africa

In South Africa, an AFT partnership with the Education Labour Relations Council, six teacher unions, the Academy for Educational Development (AED) and the South African Medical Association has been able to save teachers' lives through combining workplace education, HIV testing and counseling and AIDS treatment for those who need it. After the three-year pilot project, the U.S. government found the work so important that they granted a five-year extension to reach all teachers in the country. South African teacher unions are providing life-saving peer education to members on prevention of HIV, implementing anti-stigma and anti-discrimination programs in 60,000 schools that employ tens of thousands of teachers. The unions also serve HIV-positive teachers by providing a confidential AIDS information hotline and free drug treatment for those who need it.

HIV-positive teachers who are willing to disclose their status and participate in the project are recruited as AIDS ambassadors and role models for others who live in silence.

AFT partners in Kenya

An equally effective program has been developed in Kenya in partnership with the 235,000-member Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT). Started in 2003 with a small U.S. government grant and AFT member contributions, the AFT/KNUT partnership has grown tremendously. The program has enrolled more than 8,000 KNUT members in workplace peer education programs who are implementing comprehensive workplace policies to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS in more than 600 public schools.

In addition to focusing on prevention, care and treatment for teachers, the KNUT program also empowers educators and school administrators to transform schools by providing programs for AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children, supporting programs for HIV positive teachers and learners and integrating HIV and AIDS education into the curriculum and extracurricular activities. The KNUT has also launched a national campaign to implement workplace HIV and AIDS policies in the nation's 22,000 public schools and teacher training colleges.

Education International

In African countries where the AFTEF is not working, Education International has a mandate to work with teacher unions in response to the AIDS pandemic. EI project activities focus on teachers and students with small grants and standardized training materials.