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ASSOCIATION FRANCOIS-XAVIER BAGNOUD (AFXB),
Johannesburg
2004 – $ 22,000 (Two-year grant)
AFXB works in two of the largest townships around Johannesburg,
offering after-school programs for children who would go home
to an empty house or ill parents. Firelight’s first grant
helped fund an after-school tutoring and bereavement art program
for 30 children. With this new grant, AFXB continues two after-school
programs and initiates the first phase of a leadership program.
The leadership program promotes and encourages young people
to investigate potential career paths by having them interview
professionals in different jobs and institutions, document their
findings, and report back to other youth. AFXB will also initiate
short-term internships within different organizations so that
youth can gain practical experience.
The entire grant was funded through Firelight’s Donor
Advised Fund at Tides Foundation.
2003 – $ 12,000
This organization works in two of the largest townships around
Johannesburg, offering after-school programs for children who
normally would go home to an empty house or ill parents. AFXB
offers homework help, recreational activities, and pen pal programs,
and in addition, assists families with home-based care. Grant
funds are helping AFXB expand its after-school tutoring and
bereavement art program for 30 children in the Alexandra Township.
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BOTSHABELO BABIES HOME, Kyalami
2004 – $ 15,000
Botshabelo Babies Home provides care to HIV-positive and abandoned
babies through hospice and adoption services and a family reunification
program. In addition, they offer caregiver training and assistance
with income-generating activities in the surrounding community.
Previous grants supported shelter and salaries for a social
worker and two caregivers. Regrant funds help cover administrative
costs and salaries, allowing staff to focus on expanding their
community home-based care program.
$11,000 of this grant was funded through Firelight’s
Donor Advised Fund at Tides Foundation.
2002 – $ 17,600
Botshabelo Babies Home provides short- to medium-term shelter
and care for abandoned babies and HIV-positive babies and children.
They work closely with the local community, government agencies,
and adoption services to place children in long-term homes.
The grant is providing salary support for in-house and satellite
caregivers and helping cover project administration costs.
2001 – $ 8,700
Grant funding supports the shelter and covers the salaries of
a social worker and two caregivers, as well as administrative
fees.
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CHILDREN’s RIGHTS CENTRE (CRC), Durban
2004 – $ 30,000
CRC works on a range of child rights issues throughout South
Africa. With a prior grant, the Children’s Rights Centre
developed Play Rights Packs for children in institutional settings
such as social welfare offices, police stations, and hospitals.
Play Rights Packs enable staff within these settings to engage
children in play and help the children express their emotions
and cope with an unfamiliar and stressful environment. This
regrant allows CRC to pilot their Play Rights Program in all
nine provinces. This program expansion is part of a larger campaign
to launch a national children’s rights network.
$11,000 of this grant was funded through Firelight’s
Donor Advised Fund at Tides Foundation.
2004 – $ 4,000
This documentation grant enables CRC to transform their “Visions
& Voices – Children’s Rights & Realities”
photo exhibition into a book and poster series. This portable
format allows for a wider audience to view the exhibition
and assists local and international efforts to raise awareness
and advocate in support of children’s rights.
2002 – $ 14,000
CRC was founded during the apartheid era to address the rights
of children in prison. Now focusing broadly on child rights,
CRC is using grant funds to develop a Mobile Play Pack for
children in institutional settings, such as police stations
or hospitals. They are providing training and support to service
providers in these settings on how to reach children under
stress through play. The Play Packs are also raising awareness
among these frontline workers about all the basic rights of
children, including the right to and the psychosocial importance
of play! The Mobile Play Packs are being used to reach 5,000
children in difficult circumstances.
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DEVELOPMENTAL GENDER NETWORK (DGN), East
London
2005 – $ 5,000
Formed to respond to the HIV epidemic and an increasing level
of child abuse and violence in its region, DGN, formerly Gompo
Abused Children Centre Services, works to benefit disadvantaged
children living in the informal settlements and rural areas
of the Eastern Cape. This region remains underserved and underfunded
despite substantial need. DGN provides holistic support to nearly
200 orphans and HIV-infected children and youth, including educational
assistance, violence-prevention campaigns, food relief, HIV/AIDS
awareness-raising activities, and home visits. With Firelight
funding DGN is helping to meet the nutritional needs of 185
vulnerable children and training 60 caregivers, including 20
teachers, to care for children affected by HIV/AIDS.
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DIKETSO ESENG DIPUO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
TRUST (DEDI), Bloemfontein
2005 – $ 30,000 (Two-year grant)
Diketso Eseng Dipuo (Actions and Not Talking), in southern Sotho,
believes that empowering and supporting people to act on their
own behalf can help eradicate poverty. Observing increasing
levels of family disintegration, unemployment, alcohol abuse,
and violence, DEDI designed participatory interventions that
help families respond creatively to their young children’s
growth and development needs. Firelight’s first grant funded
integrated Family Support Programs in six communities in the
central Free State, reaching 130 children under seven years
old with exercise, nutrition, and educational activities. DEDI
trained six Family Support Workers, who then trained 117 caregivers
in skills and strategies for supporting children in early childhood
development programs. With this two-year regrant, DEDI is continuing
the six Family Support Programs initiated with their first grant
and administering a Women’s Group Saving Society to develop
savings’ schemes in four communities.
2004 – $ 10,000
DEDI believes poverty can be eradicated through empowerment
and community support programs. Their Family Support Program
works with parents on small business ventures, group savings
schemes, early childhood development skills, and children’s
learning programs. These integrated programs help families find
creative ways to solve problems and overcome challenges. This
Firelight grant covers the costs of implementing the Family
Support Program in six rural communities.
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EMPILWENI PROJECT, Khayelitsha
2005 – $ 30,000 (Two-year grant)
Empilweni, a community-based organization, offers emotional
support to families coping with ill health, violence, and poverty.
Empilweni brings child-centered, culturally appropriate mental
health interventions to children in Khayelitsha, one of Cape
Town’s largest and poorest townships. Firelight’s
first grant funded Empilweni’s HIV/AIDS child and parent
support groups, and a beadwork income-generating activity for
parents in its support group. With this two-year regrant, Empilweni
continues its array of psychosocial support interventions, including
children’s and parents’ support groups, as well as
peer-led outreach and radio programs that target secondary school-age
youth. The grant also covers the salaries of mental health counselors
who will supervise Empilweni’s various community-based
support groups.
The entire grant was funded through Firelight’s Donor
Advised Fund at Tides Foundation.
2003 – $ 7,800
Operating in one of the largest townships around Cape Town,
Empilweni implements a Children’s Support Group Program
that addresses the lack of emotional support for children affected
by HIV/AIDS. With this grant they are assisting 40 children
in coming to terms with a parent’s and/or caregiver’s
illness and approaching death. Empilweni is also facilitating
workshops for parents and caregivers so they can understand
and support their children during this difficult time. Finally,
they are providing skills training and development workshops
for teachers and community leaders, exploring the psychosocial
effects of HIV/AIDS on children and addressing stigma reduction.
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FAMILY LITERACY PROJECT (FLP), Durban
2005 – $ 3,800
By training caregivers to read to their children, FLP strives
to develop both adults’ and children’s literacy skills.
Noting the dramatic impact of HIV/AIDS on families, FLP expanded
its programs to include HIV-prevention, health care, and early
childhood development activities. Creatively adapting their
successful support group model for literacy promotion, FLP formed
Health Support Groups and trained group facilitators (elected
by the rural communities) to teach caregivers to improve family
health. Facilitators then visit their neighbors, sharing information
about the importance of immunization, play and stimulation,
and HIV prevention. Firelight funding enables FLP to recruit
a consultant skilled in management of early childhood illness
to train Health Support Group facilitators.
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FIKELELA CHILDREN’S CENTRE, Cape Town
2005 – $ 10,000
Fikelela engages Anglican parishes throughout Cape Town to meet
the needs of children affected by HIV/AIDS, especially young
children living with HIV. Fikelela offers transitional care
for HIV-positive and abandoned children while working with communities
and social welfare agencies to recruit and train foster caregivers.
Previous Firelight funding has supported the running costs of
Fikelela’s transitional care facility. This regrant supports
Fikelela to offer emergency foster care, including daycare,
feeding, and medical care, and to identify, train, and supervise
foster parents.
2003 – $ 4,000
Fikelela operates in the high-need township of Khayelitsha.
Due to the displacement of families and the breakdown in traditional
community caring structures, families living in these areas
are often isolated and left without the traditional resources
to help with childcare. Fikelela Children’s Centre provides
outreach services to families, plus daycare, medical care, temporary
shelter, and foster family placements for orphans and vulnerable
and HIV-positive children. This grant is helping the Centre
continue its foster care program, which provides both emergency
care and supervised placements with long-term parents. It also
provides comprehensive screening, training, and supervision
to foster parents as well as outreach and support to the children
and the surrounding community.
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GREATER NELSPRUIT RAPE INTERVENTION PROGRAMME
(GRIP), Nelspruit
2005 – $ 30,000 (Two-year grant)
GRIP was founded to address the gap in support for rape survivors
in and around Nelspruit. With previous Firelight grants, GRIP
hired a welfare liaison officer and six field workers, each
of whom works monthly with an average of 24 rape survivors.
In just one year (2002), GRIP provided compassionate care and
legal assistance to more than 2,000 rape survivors, including
many girls under the age of 16. GRIP’s effective services
have invited national attention and pressure to expand its reach,
which has challenged the small staff. With this two-year regrant,
GRIP is contracting a management consultant and auditing firm
to work with the organization to help strengthen it. Funds also
provide interim support for two of GRIP’s core programs:
court and legal training, and hospital intervention.
2004 – $ 4,000
Addressing issues of child sexual abuse, GRIP supports children
medically, emotionally, and legally, ensuring that their rights
are upheld and that they receive the support they need. With
its first Firelight grant, GRIP provided safety and aftercare
services to over 1,300 rape survivors, 85% of whom are children
under the age of 16. With this documentation grant, GRIP is
developing brief video and audio presentations to increase understanding
of the organization’s beneficiaries, work, and challenges.
2002 – $ 20,000
GRIP is one of the only organizations in South Africa dealing
with the issue of child rape. It supports children through the
legal and social work process ensuring that their rights are
upheld and that they receive the support they need. With the
grant, GRIP provides safety and aftercare services to over 1,300
rape survivors, 85% of whom are children under the age of 16,
including infants and young children. GRIP is acting as a liaison
between the victims and the medical and legal systems (i.e.
hospitals, social welfare, and police departments), ensuring
that the basic survival and security needs of these vulnerable
children are met. GRIP field workers also administer HIV tests
to rape survivors and provide medical and psychosocial referrals
and support to those who test positive.
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HIV/AIDS AWARENESS PROJECT AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
(HAPYD), Braamfontein/Johannesburg
2005 – $ 4,000
Founded by a pair of Soweto-based youth living with HIV, HAPYD
fills a gap in holistic care and support for children under
10 years old who are dealing with the effects of HIV/AIDS. With
this Firelight grant, HAPYD provides an interactive educational
program for 200 children in five nursery schools. HAPYD uses
theater, music, dance, and role play to teach children their
rights and responsibilities. In addition HAPYD is organizing
a beadwork income-generating project and support group for 75
people living with AIDS.
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HIV/AIDS PREVENTION GROUP, BELABELA WELFARE
SOCIETY, Belabela
2005 – $ 15,000
Belabela operates in an underserved rural area organizing home-based
care, orphan assistance, and support groups for vulnerable children
and people living with HIV/AIDS. Belabela aims “to help
[all] children live their life... equal to other children.”
Previous Firelight funding provided educational assistance and
recreational opportunities for vulnerable children and covered
some administrative costs. This regrant offers continued funding
for Belabela’s integrated program of educational, recreational,
and counseling support for 80 children. Additionally, Belabela
is assisting 60 people living with HIV/AIDS and their families
to plant gardens, educating 10 community caretakers in child
psychosocial support skills, and training smaller organizations
to initiate activities benefiting vulnerable children.
2004 – $ 4,000
Belabela Welfare Society operates in a rural underserved area,
providing home-based care, orphan outreach, and support groups
for vulnerable children and people living with HIV/AIDS. Firelight’s
first grant paid for school fees and recreational activities
for children. Funds also covered staff training in psychosocial
counseling and administrative costs. This documentation grant
is funding the development of a website and other materials
aimed at raising awareness and highlighting the work of the
Belabela Welfare Society.
2003 – $ 3,000
Belabela operates in a rural underserved area, providing home-based
care, orphan outreach, and support groups for vulnerable children
and people living with AIDS. Through their bereavement program,
Belabela is using grant funds for school fees and recreational
activities for children. Funds are also covering staff training
in psychosocial counseling and administrative costs.
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HUMAN SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL/FATHERHOOD
PROJECT (HSRC), Durban
2005 – $ 20,000 (Two-year grant)
Concerned about the increasing levels of child abuse, the neglect
of children by their fathers, and the crisis in childcare resulting
from the AIDS epidemic, a few social scientists at the Human
Sciences Research Council initiated the Fatherhood Project.
The Fatherhood Project runs advocacy and awareness-raising programs
aimed at increasing men’s participation in children’s care,
protection, and development. With Firelight funding the Fatherhood
Project is maintaining and expanding its awareness-raising programs
through a variety of strategies, including producing 5,000 copies
of a 2005 calendar featuring men in caring and protective relationships
with children and updating its website.
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IKAMVA LABANTU, Cape Town
2005 – $ 9,400
Under the umbrella organization of Ikamva Labantu, Khumbulani
Day Care provides daycare for HIV-infected and -affected preschool-age
children. It also provides overnight care for those who cannot
go home due to their own or a family member’s severe illness.
With its first Firelight grant, Ikamva Labantu purchased a house
for Khumbulani Day Care that accommodates 50 children. Khumbulani
is using this regrant to make minor repairs to the house and
to purchase furniture, appliances, and recreational equipment
for the daycare center. In addition the grant supports training
and accreditation expenses for two Khumbulani caregivers.
2003 – $ 8,000
Under the umbrella organization of Ikamva Labantu, Khumbulani
Day Care provides daycare and urgent overnight care for children
infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Specifically, this grant
pays for the construction of a building that will house the
daycare facility for 40 children.
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KAKARETSO DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING TRUST,
Phuthaditjhaba
2003 – $ 7,000
This organization has formed clubs for local women who come
together to work on income-generating activities. The women
also bring the children that they care for (many of whom have
lost their parents to HIV/AIDS) to the meetings. This grant
is allowing the clubs to improve the services for the children
by training two women from each club in early childhood development
skills and by providing follow-up support.
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LULISANDLA KUMNTWANA, Sibhayi
2005 – $ 10,000
Lulisandla Kumntwana (Reach Out to the Child) developed as the
community outreach arm for the Mseleni Children’s Home
in KwaZulu Natal, serving the growing number of orphans who
would benefit from foster care. Lulisandla Kumntwana identifies
vulnerable children, acquires documentation for orphans, recruits
and trains foster caregivers, and assists families in obtaining
foster-care grants. With this grant Lulisandla Kumntwana is
initiating recreational and psychosocial support activities
for approximately 400 vulnerable youth, most of them in foster
care. Additionally, the organization is training young people
in life skills, children’s rights, and coping with loss.
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MILLENNIUM HOME OF HOPE (MHH), White River
2005 – $ 30,000 (Two-year grant)
MHH was founded as a transitional home by individuals working
in social welfare who recognized a lack of services for abandoned
and orphaned babies. MHH identifies foster homes in the community
for children up to age six, and provides training and ongoing
guidance to foster families. Firelight’s initial grant
enabled MHH to establish 40 Mini Homes of Hope – foster
care placement within the community. This two-year regrant supports
MHH to continue its foster parent-support programs. It also
supports salary and related costs of identifying, screening,
and training 60 new foster parents, refresher courses for 50
foster caregivers, and expenses associated with placing 15 children
in foster families.
2003 – $ 9,000
The Millenium Home of Hope, a transitional shelter for orphans,
operates in Mpumalanga, the province with the second highest
HIV prevalence rate in South Africa. MHH focuses on moving orphaned
babies and children out of their shelter and into foster care
(called ‘mini Homes of Hope’) within the community
and providing monthly follow-up support to foster families.
With this grant, Millennium Home of Hope is increasing their
impact in this province by expanding to 40 fully functioning
mini Homes of Hope. They will enhance their outreach in the
community, screen and train potential foster parents, and provide
ongoing training to current foster parents/families and staff.
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MOFUMAHADI WA TSHEPO CARE, Rosslyn
2005 – $ 5,000
Mofumahadi Wa Tshepo Care is building a center to care for up
to 64 abandoned, HIV-positive children in family units. Firelight
funding will cover the purchase of security fencing, a fire
prevention system, and medical supplies.
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MOTIVATION COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (MCD), Kimberley
2005 – $ 20,000 (Two-year grant)
Youth in the mostly KhoiSan township of Roodepan founded MCD
to respond to the area’s high rates of addiction, violence,
and HIV infection. MCD offers community-based daycare and youth
programs. With its initial Firelight grant, MCD established
the first daycare center in Doek Doek, a rural, underserved
community. Every school day the center provides hot meals and
teaches social and play skills to 50 children ages two to six
years. This two-year regrant supports the expansion of MCD’s
daycare center, which reaches 100 children and 20 caregivers.
MCD will also use funding to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS
and teach life skills to 500 youth via radio shows and workshops,
as well as offer youth-friendly clinical HIV and sexual health
services to 300 young people.
2004 – $ 5,000
Motivation Community Development creates holistic community-based
programs that work with Khoisan youth to strengthen their connections
to their Khoisan cultural heritage. Firelight funding is supporting
a preschool for 50 children in a disadvantaged community and
initiating an HIV/AIDS information and support center. The center
provides youth-friendly counseling, prevention education, HIV
testing, and disease treatment and management.
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THE NCEDULUNTU SANCTUARY TRUST, Cape Town
2003 – $ 4,000
Based in the Nomzama settlement outside of Cape Town, Nceduluntu
was started by Maureen Lumka, nicknamed the “Wheel Barrow
Saint,” because she used a padded wheelbarrow to pick up
the disabled and often HIV-positive children who attended her
preschool. She now provides residential care to 14 orphans,
daycare and a meal program for more than 60 vulnerable children,
and a vocational skills training program for caregivers. With
this grant, Nceduluntu is training four teachers in their pre-school
and providing one staff person with management training.
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ORGANISATION FOR AFRICAN HERBALISTS INTERNATIONAL
(OAH), Botshabelo
2005 – $ 7,000
Traditional healers founded OAH with the aim of “using
cultural medicine to heal.” As its members recognized healers
were treating dying parents and trying to address the needs
of their patients’ children, OAH integrated home-based
care, peer education, and orphan response programs into its
training and awareness campaigns. With support from Firelight,
OAH is training 70 children in life skills and in gardening
for food production. The organization is also teaching parenting
skills to 70 caregivers, many of whom are new to parenting.
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PIETERMARITZBURG CHILD WELFARE COMMUNITY CARE PROJECT, Pietermaritzburg
2003 – $ 8,000
This project focuses on placing HIV-positive children with extended
family members or in foster care within their community. Due
to substantially increasing demand, the Special Needs Placement
Unit is using this grant to expand the pool of screened and
trained foster parents, as well as to increase awareness among
community leaders.
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ROB SMETHERHAM BEREAVEMENT SERVICE FOR CHILDREN
(RSBSC), Hilton
2005 – $ 15,000
Using therapeutic play interventions such as puppetry, RSBSC
brings hope and healing to bereaved, orphaned, and vulnerable
children. With its initial Firelight grant, RSBSC convened therapeutic
play-intervention groups for 100 children, trained six community
volunteers in facilitating children’s support groups, and
taught 70 adult volunteers to use play to help children cope
with distress and grief. With this regrant RSBSC is holding
play-intervention groups for an additional 100 children and
training six more community volunteers in introductory play
therapy skills. To enhance its capacity, RSBSC is also training
representatives of 24 strategic-partner organizations in its
model of psychosocial support.
2004 – $ 10,000
The mission of RSBSC is to bring hope and healing through therapeutic
play interventions to bereaved, orphaned, and vulnerable children
in communities affected by death, loss, and HIV/AIDS. With Firelight
funds, RSBSC is holding therapeutic play intervention groups
for 100 children, training community volunteers on basic play
skills, and providing direct psychosocial support to 48 families.
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RURAL WOMEN’S MOVEMENT (RWM), Pietermaritzburg
2004 – $ 4,000
RWM was founded to advocate for and secure rural women’s
land rights. The organization’s current work also focuses
on HIV/AIDS awareness, income-generating activities and other
legal rights. Through this work, RWM has identified support
to widows and caregivers of orphans as a priority area for programming.
With the Firelight grant, RWM assists 35 primary school children
with school fees, uniforms, and supplies. Priority is given
to primary-school-aged girls who are heading households.
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ST. NICHOLAS CHILDREN’S HOSPICE, Bloemfontein
2004 – $ 10,000
St. Nicholas offers palliative daycare and in-patient services,
a preschool, bereavement counseling, and nutritional support
to children with life-threatening illnesses in three underserved
communities. This Firelight grant supports their nutrition services
and bereavement program, which offers support groups and individual
therapy for orphans.
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SAKHISIZWE/GRAHAMSTOWN FOUNDATION, Grahamstown
2003 – $ 4,000
This program provides training to principals, teachers, parents,
and students in rural primary schools to empower families affected
by HIV/AIDS. Training includes: HIV/AIDS facts, writing skills,
management and governance, and crop and vegetable farming. With
Firelight funds, Sakhisizwe is expanding its outreach program
to 44 rural schools across 4 districts.
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SINOSIZO HOME BASED CARE, Chatsworth/Durban
2003 – $ 10,000
Sinosizo Home Based Care provides care to terminally ill AIDS
patients in 10 townships and informal settlements around Durban.
They also serve children whose parents can no longer care for
them due to illness or death. With this grant, Sinosizo is developing
16 training modules to train 50 children and 100 volunteers
who work with orphans and vulnerable children. Sinosizo will
then replicate this program in at least five other areas.
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FOUNDATION FOR HOSPICES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA/SOUTH
COAST HOSPICE, Port Shepstone
2001 – $ 48,000
After working with terminally ill adults, South Coast Hospice
realized that when their patients die they often leave behind
children who also need help. Grant funds provide 200 rural children
about to be orphaned with a memory box. The box contains a letter
from their parent describing their hopes and dreams for that
child, along with photos and other small mementos. The process
of creating the box with a community health worker provides
psychosocial support to the parent as well as a sense of family
history for the children.
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THANDUKUPHILA COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATION,
Empangeni
2004 – $ 8,000
Thandukuphila cares for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
The organization also cares for orphans and vulnerable children
in the community. Their daycare center serves 80 children, and
their drop-in center reaches 277 orphans. Firelight funding
covers training for home-based care workers in counseling and
training for caregivers in poultry farming. In addition, the
grant allows Thandukuphila to provide school supplies to 60
children and bedding for terminally ill children.
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Vuleka, Durban
2003 – $ 10,000
Vuleka is a local media production company that has made videos
on the condition of orphaned and vulnerable children. With this
grant, Vuleka is developing and producing audiocassettes and
CDs with songs that encourage the development of vulnerable
children’s self-esteem. They will distribute the music
to local radio programs, media outlets, and home-based care
programs.
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