About Us PDF Print E-mail

The Director - Linzi Smith

Linzi Smith served in the Local Government Health Department in KwaZulu-Natal Province for fourteen years in the HIV/AIDS and Life Skills Health Promotion Sector.

In the early eighties she treated her first AIDS patient, and realised immediately that the health services had limited mechanisms with which to help sufferers. She thus began to produce appropriate education materials for her patients, their families, and government health workers, as well as to lobby the local health services to establish proper infrastructure for PWA's (People living positively with HIV or AIDS).

Whilst on a US Government sponsored programme to learn about their best practices, Linzi noted how HIV/AIDS education was aimed at each particular market segment, an insight which - when translated into the South African context - led her realise that HIV/AIDS education needed to be aimed specifically at employed men, because of the influence they wield over peers, partners and their communities, as well as key players for the future success of the country's business sector.

For her insightful work, Linzi Smith as been awarded a Fellowship by Ashoka - an international association of Leading Social Entrepreneurs, and as such is a member of this prestigious association for life (www.ashoka.org.za)

The Company Staff

Due to the nature of ETC's work, and the range and size of companies that are serviced, ETC does not employ a large staff, but rather has a number of associates and preferred service providers to which work is sub-contracted.

All sub-contracted trainers and associates are trained by Linzi Smith to ensure a standardised high level of service.

This diverse approach, and the team’s many and varied skills, allows ETC to operate successfully within the HIV/AIDS and training domain, across all cultures, languages, workplace environments and levels of literacy.

Associates and service providers include: A project manager; three psychologists; three social workers; A researcher/statistician; A lawyer; Trainers in Johannesburg and Durban; Counsellors in Johannesburg and Durban; A team of Professional Nurses in Johannesburg and Durban; PWA’s; EAP specialists; A Durban-based Crisis centre; A Durban-based 24-hour crisis line, A Home Based Care Centre (Kwa-Zulu Natal Province); Pantech (suppliers of HIV rapid test kits); and Lifesense Disease Management (which offers Wellness & Anti-retroviral drug management).