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Orphans & Vulnerable Children (OVC)
Church World Service seeks funds to expand a faith-based self-help network to educate and provide livelihood assistance to orphans and child-headed households affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.
Need: Some 12 million children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS across sub-Saharan Africa! Millions more live with sick or dying parents. While orphaned African children have traditionally been cared for by their extended families and communities, this safety net is unraveling as more and more adults succumb to the virus. Children are being raised by children, who can no longer attend school, lose their homes and inheritances, and fall prey to abuse and exploitation.
Target Population: This OVC model was developed in Rwanda, in cooperation with the indigenous YWCA. This program is being extended to Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya, where HIV prevalence rates are high and where the pandemic has its longest history.
Partnership & Collaboration: Key networking partners for the OVC program include AFRUS-AIDS, a coalition of 150 grassroots and faith-based women’s organizations in sub-Saharan Africa; and the All Africa Conference of Churches, which has 168 member churches in 39 countries.
Project Activities:
- Education and Vocational Training
- Micro-enterprise loans
- Stigma reduction and HIV/AIDS awareness training
Outcomes:
- 4 Regional Demonstration Programs impacting health, food security, income generation, education, and human rights
- 48 national peer trainings for 96+ HIV/AIDS organizations each year
- 26 Facilitator programs to reach children through local church organizations
- 6,600 child-headed households assisted with health care, micro-loans for income generation, etc.
- 11,250 at-risk youth educated with SMART grants in healthy behavioral change
What your gift can do:
$1,000 – Agricultural income training, tools, & seed for 20 heads-of-household
$2,500 – Primary health care for 72 child-headed orphan households
$5,000 – SMART grant to promote healthy lifestyle behavior
3-year OVC Program Budget: $2.1 Million
*These examples reflect the average costs of providing assistance to orphans and child-headed households affected by the HIV / AIDS pandemic in Africa. Gifts to the CWS Africa Initiative "HIV / AIDS in Africa" fund are used to support this or similar HIV / AIDS-related projects in Africa.