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Mobilizing Communities to Support Children Affected by AIDS
Nearly a million children in Ethiopia have lost either one or both parents because of AIDS.
The Ethiopian government’s commitment to provide basic education for all primary-age children by 2015, in line with the Millennium Development Goals, has brought many children into the classroom in recent years. Many children, however, often struggle to perform in school because they are consumed with more immediate physical, emotional and psychological needs.
World Learning is working to meet these needs with a new project that assists orphaned and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS in 400 primary schools across the country. The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development and builds upon previous programs that World Learning implemented in Ethiopia. World Learning conducts the program in collaboration with two Ethiopian nongovernmental organizations, Tigray Development Association and Making Cents.
The often-quoted African proverb: It takes a village to raise a child, is rather accurate in this case. “These children have no parents so they belong to the community,” said Tahir Gero, World Learning chief of party. “This is the traditional African perspective that existed long before HIV/AIDS and the current day.”
The program begins in the classroom to help teachers identify orphaned and vulnerable children and to give them the attention they need to succeed in school. The care available goes far beyond extra tutoring. A child may need everything from health care and basic hygiene lessons to psychological counseling. The guardians of these children are invited to apply for microfinance loans that can help them create a business to earn income for their families.
World Learning also works to strengthen the financial health of schools, so that they can fund programs for at-risk children in the future. School administrators and parent-teacher associations are encouraged to start small businesses, by buying livestock, planting a garden or opening a small canteen outside of the school gates. The income generated by these ventures helps pay for the care that at-risk children need, as well as supply school necessities such as stationery and uniforms.
Outside of schools, the program mobilizes members of parent-teacher organizations, religious institutions and community groups to identify children in need of services and then follow up on the children at home. District-level task forces coordinate all of these activities to ensure that time and money are used in the most effective way.
The overall goal is to strengthen the ability of schools to provide quality, comprehensive services to at least 40,000 HIV-affected of infected children to ensure that they enroll in school, attend regularly and improve their academic performance.
“It is not easy for a community alone to provide orphaned and vulnerable children with their inherent human right to education,” said Gero. “That’s why our presence matters.”