| |
BETHANY PROJECT, Zvishavane
2002 – $ 10,000
The Bethany Project extends holistic child-centered care to
families struggling with HIV/AIDS in Zvishavane, Central Zimbabwe.
Grant funds are supporting Bethany’s Community-Based Orphan
Care Project, providing educational support, emergency food
assistance, youth HIV prevention activities, and ongoing monitoring
of families affected by HIV/AIDS.
Back to Top
|
The Centre, Harare
2005 – $ 8,000
The Centre supports people living with HIV/AIDS with therapeutic
counseling, psychosocial support, nutritional advice, and advocacy
to promote their human rights. With its first Firelight grant,
The Centre developed and implemented a series of workshops for
HIV-positive youth, emphasizing strategies to develop mental
and physical wellbeing. This round of funding supports another
series of workshops to increase young peoples’ knowledge
of how to live positively using nutrition, information, emotional
support, and income generation. Funds also support 10 vulnerable
youth with educational assistance and provide legal advice to
young people who have faced discrimination as a result of their
HIV-positive status.
2004 – $ 4,000
The Centre promotes positive living for HIV-positive people
through nutrition, survival skills, counseling, and advocacy.
This grant enables The Centre to develop its youth-focused psychosocial
support program. The program includes life skills education,
recreational activities, and information about good nutrition,
all aimed at supporting young people living with HIV. It also
provides young people with the tools and knowledge to prevent
new HIV infections.
Back to Top
|
CHILD PROTECTION SOCIETY (CPS), Harare
2005 – $ 5,000
CPS, the oldest child welfare organization in Zimbabwe, supports
abandoned, abused, disabled, and terminally ill children with
residential and community-based care. CPS leads a national effort
to transition care of vulnerable children away from institutions
into community-based family settings. Previous Firelight grants
have covered CPS’ operational and administrative costs
and enabled the organization to transform dormitories into smaller
family units. Firelight grants have also supported CPS with
caregivers’ salaries, administrative expenses, and the
cost of maintaining the organization’s family houses. This
discretionary grant enables CPS to fill a critical administrative
funding gap, paying three staff members’ salaries for three
months.
2004 – $ 10,000
CPS supports abandoned, abused, disabled, and terminally ill
children through a program of residential hospice care and community-based
family care. Previous Firelight grants have covered CPS’
operational and administrative costs and enabled CPS to transform
large dormitories into smaller family units. This grant enables
CPS to cover caregivers’ salaries. It also increases the
level of psychosocial support provided to children by training
staff in psychosocial support techniques and strengthening current
child counseling and group support programs.
The entire grant was funded through Firelight’s Donor
Advised Fund at Tides Foundation.
2003 – $ 15,000
CPS has a 40-year history in Zimbabwe of providing quality preschool
education, as well as residential care and support to disabled,
abandoned, abused, and HIV-infected children. They have played
a leadership role in transitioning support of orphaned children
to community-based arrangements. Firelight funds support CPS’
movement of 60 orphaned and vulnerable children from institutional
to family-based group home care. A portion of the grant is covering
palliative care expenses for terminally ill children.
2001 – $20,000
Grant funding supports the salaries of caregivers, a nurse,
cooks, and other personnel. These staff run the Chinyaradzo
Children’s Home (a hospice care facility for terminally-ill
infants), serve as house parents for children in family units,
and teach at the Colin John Campbell Preschool Center.
2001 – $ 15,500
This grant purchases a vehicle and the costs of three desktop
computers, one printer, and software.
Back to Top
|
DANANAI CENTRE, Murambinda
2004 – $ 30,000 (Two-year regrant)
Dananai Centre works in a rural setting and provides home-based
care to vulnerable children and people living with HIV/AIDS.
Through outreach activities, they sensitize community members
about the impact of HIV/AIDS and share support strategies. The
Dananai Centre used a previous Firelight grant to shift its
orphan assistance from an individual to a community-driven approach
that engages children in decisionmaking. They have established
12 Village Care Groups, convened a children’s forum, and
offered educational support to 400 children. This two-year grant
enables Dananai to assist an additional 50 vulnerable children
with educational support and to continue their counseling, care
workshops, and income-generating projects.
$11,000 of this grant was funded through Firelight’s
Donor Advised Fund at Tides Foundation.
2002 – $ 10,000
Working in a government-designated industrial zone, Dananai
Centre conducts community outreach to meet the needs of more
than 1,000 families affected by AIDS. Grant support enables
Dananai to provide school fees to 400 vulnerable children and
meet the needs of approximately 80 sick, homebound children.
In addition, funds are supporting 12 day-long community mobilization
workshops to generate support for children in difficult circumstances.
Grant funds also allow Dananai to train community members working
with children affected by AIDS in home-based care and psychosocial
support, and to hold a children’s forum for 112 children.
Back to Top
|
ESANDLENI SOTHANDO, Mangwe/Plumtree
2005 – $ 8,000
A young person, inspired by his experience at Masiye Camp to
support children affected by HIV/AIDS, founded Esandleni Sothando
in his home community. Esandleni Sothando mobilizes community
members to respond to the needs of children affected by HIV/AIDS,
trains them in basic physical and psychosocial care methods,
and provides life skills and emotional support to vulnerable
children. With Firelight funding the organization is convening
a workshop on AIDS-related stigma and discrimination for 30
children and community leaders. Esandleni Sothando is extending
educational assistance to more than 40 children and buying sports
equipment for youth clubs involving 500 youth. Additionally,
the group is working with communities to establish several communal
granaries that will increase food security, especially benefiting
the most vulnerable households.
Back to Top
|
|
FAMILY AIDS CARING TRUST – CHIREDZI (FACT–Chiredzi),
Chiredzi
2005 – $ 25,000 (Two-year grant)
FACT-Chiredzi serves the urban Chiredzi district, providing
educational, material, and psychosocial support to more than
1,500 vulnerable children. Firelight has supported FACT-Chiredzi’s
integrated orphan-support program since 2001. Funding has
enabled the group to extend its services to more vulnerable
children and to offer intensive support to families in need,
with special attention to children’s and caregivers’
psychosocial wellbeing. This regrant offers continued funding
for FACT-Chiredzi’s diverse programs, including educational
assistance, HIV/AIDS awareness-raising activities, and training
of caregivers in succession planning and memory book preparation.
2003 – $ 15,000
Chiredzi, a mining area in southeastern Zimbabwe, has been
heavily affected by HIV/AIDS. The mine’s employees are
mostly migrant laborers, far from their families, who have
discretionary income to spend on a variety of things, including
sex workers. Seventy percent of Chiredzi’s sex workers
are HIV-positive. The Family AIDS Caring Trust operates throughout
Zimbabwe, implementing a comprehensive model for community-based
orphan care. This grant, to the Chiredzi branch of FACT, supports
800 orphans with a combination of material goods (food, blankets,
and clothing), home visits, educational expenses, psychosocial
support, and skills training. Funds also cover FACT-Chiredzi’s
child-centered advocacy efforts, training for 1,295 orphans
on how to secure birth certificates (necessary for school
registration and claiming property), and training for new
caregivers on appropriate care of vulnerable children.
2001 – $ 8,000
The funds are for an integrated HIV/AIDS prevention and care
outreach program that includes community- and youth-focused
education, counseling, home-based and orphan care programs,
and income-generating projects.
Back to Top
|
|
FAMILY SUPPORT TRUST (FST), Chitungwiza
2004 – $ 5,000
FST operates closely with hospitals, the police, and a strong
network of community volunteers to address both the immediate
and ongoing needs of child sexual abuse survivors. FST offers
emotional support and medical care, including post-HIV exposure
prophylaxis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
The organization works with sexual abuse survivors from the
time of their trauma to the prosecution of the perpetrators
in court. It also conducts community education programs on
child sexual abuse. This grant supports FST’s integrated
program of care and outreach.
Back to Top
|
FARM ORPHAN SUPPORT TRUST OF ZIMBABWE (FOST),
Glendale
2005 – $ 10,000
Working with families living on Zimbabwe’s commercial farms,
FOST strives to increase the capacity of these isolated communities
to respond to the orphan crisis and the uncertainty facing farming
families during the current period of social and political upheaval.
Previous Firelight funding supported FOST to pilot a program
to involve and empower young people by training six out-of-school
youth in leadership skills and assisting them to start Kids’
Clubs. The clubs offer a safe, nurturing environment for youth
to meet and exchange ideas, learn practical skills, and receive
peer support. With this regrant FOST is establishing 18 new
Kids’ Clubs, training 30 new youth leaders, and conducting
refresher courses for the six existing leaders. It is also training
club patrons who offer supportive guidance and monitor the needs
and work of the clubs. The 24 clubs will reach approximately
1,000 children.
2002 – $ 19,800
The wife of a commercial farm owner, passionate about children’s
rights, founded FOST to respond to the special needs of children
on commercial farms. This grant provides for the training of
six out-of-school youth in leadership skills, basic counseling,
and emergency needs at Masiye Camp (see description, page 85).
The six trained youth serve as peer educators and mentors to
approximately 300 younger children affected by AIDS on six commercial
farms. FOST youth leaders guide and support young children through
the bereavement process. They run youth clubs within six farming
communities. This grant also supports networking meetings of
the youth leaders and FOST staff and enables FOST to document
the youth leadership process, to include production of a manual
and other materials for future use.
Back to Top
|
GENERAL BOARD OF GLOBAL MINISTRIES, UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH (GBGM), Murewa
2003 – $ 9,000
This grant is assisting four orphan trusts in Murewa that have
demonstrated the capacity to provide both material and economic
development opportunities to vulnerable children. Each trust
offers a comprehensive program of outreach and care, including
caregiver training on income-generating activities, educational
assistance for orphans, and volunteer training in home-based
care.
Back to Top
|
GIRL CHILD NETWORK (GCN), Chitungwiza &
Rusape
2005 – $ 34,500 (Two-year grant)
GCN supports the empowerment of the girl child in all spheres
of home, school, and community in order to bring about “a
society where girls enjoy their economic, social, and political
rights and become... women walking in their full potential.”
Nearly 20,000 girls throughout Zimbabwe participate in GCN’s
activities, through membership in Girls’ Clubs or by entering
one of GCN’s Empowerment Villages. With Firelight’s
funding GCN constructed a Girls’ Empowerment Village in
Chitsotso, Rusape, to address the increasing number of girls
reporting sexual abuse and exploitation in rural villages. This
two-year regrant provides for the ongoing operation of the Chitsotso
Empowerment Village, including educational assistance for 20
girl survivors of sexual abuse, as well as visits to homes and
girls’ clubs to provide ongoing emotional support and other
resources to 2,500 girls. Funds also enable GCN to hold workshops
and awareness-raising activities on child sexual abuse that
involve at least 250 individuals, including village headmen,
local authorities, and members of the Rusape community.
2004 – $ 4,000
A secondary school teacher and her female students started the
Girl Child Network in 1999 to address the gender-based violence
and abuse occurring in schools, homes, and communities. Firelight’s
support enabled GCN to construct an “Empowerment Village”
in Rusape where, in one year, they counseled 47 girl survivors
of sexual abuse and reintegrated them with families in the community.
Every year, GCN continues to assist more girl survivors and
works with the broader community to reintegrate them. This documentation
grant supports GCN’s development of a website and video
aimed to raise awareness with donors about the issues affecting
girls.
2003 – $ 30,000 (Two-year grant)
In 1999, several young women and their teacher decided to do
something about the gender-based violence and abuse occurring
in their schools, homes, and communities. They formed a girl’s
club named the Girl Child Network. The girls took as their motto,
“The Sky is the Limit,” expressing their quest to
realize their dreams by overcoming gender discrimination and
sexual violence. This grant assists with the maintenance and
administration of the Rusape Empowerment Village by covering
staff salaries and the purchase of a reliable used vehicle.
Funds also support the Girl Child Network’s efforts to
raise local and national awareness of the situation of young
women and to offer essential information and resources to young
women struggling to overcome sexual abuse and gender-based discrimination.
2003 – $ 5,000
A severe regional drought has created an emergency situation
in Rusape, and Firelight is making this emergency assistance
grant to enable the Girl Child Network to provide girl children
in rural areas with food and educational assistance.
2002 – $ 2,500
These funds enable the Girl Child Network to cover final construction
costs and to convene a community-wide celebration ceremony
for 1,500 people to open the Rusape Empowerment Village, a
safe space for rehabilitating young female survivors of sexual
abuse in rural Zimbabwe.
2001 – $ 1,800
This grant supports an exchange visit between staff from the
Girl Child Network and staff from Fountain of Hope in Lusaka,
Zambia to learn about alternate methods of providing services
for the vulnerable girl-child.
2001 – $ 200
This grant enables girls in the Chitungwiza safe house to
start an income-generating project.
2001 – $ 21,200
Firelight support assists the Girl Child Network to build
its second safe house in the rural village of Rusape for girls
escaping sexual abuse. Funding also covers counseling workshops
for girls’ club coordinators, to assist them in dealing
with sexual abuse issues among club members.
Back to Top
|
GWAI GRANDMOTHERS’ GROUP, Gwai
2004 – $ 3,000
The Gwai Grandmothers’ Group visits homes to help strengthen
the coping capacity of families and children. They assist with
feeding and bathing children and the sick and teach caregivers
basic home-care techniques. With Firelight’s support, the
Grandmothers’ Group is maintaining a vegetable garden to
provide food to orphans, continuing weekly home visits, and
purchasing sewing and knitting machines. These machines help
the Grandmothers’ Group generate income for their activities
and also allow them to train young women.
Back to Top
|
HELPAGE ZIMBABWE, SOUTHERN REGION, Bulawayo
2005 – $ 7,000
HelpAge Zimbabwe, a national NGO, identifies the needs of and
provides services for elderly persons in Zimbabwe. To support
the growing number of grandparents caring for orphaned and vulnerable
children, the organization’s branch in Bulawayo is providing
educational and material assistance, while also working with
elderly guardians to establish community gardens and goat raising
projects to address their livelihood needs. The grant enables
the organization to assist 52 children with school fees and
uniforms, to train 30 elders in goat rearing, and to provide
their families with two goats apiece. Additionally, HelpAge
is conducting a workshop on child-abuse prevention for 140 caregivers,
who parent 200 children.
Back to Top
|
HOPE FOR A CHILD IN CHRIST (HOCIC), Bulawayo
2005 – $ 30,000 (Two-year grant)
HOCIC, an umbrella body involving nearly 25 faith-based organizations,
works with member religious institutions to support and advocate
for vulnerable children. With previous Firelight funding, HOCIC
initiated a program of income generation to improve the sustainability
of its members’ orphan support programs, and initiated
training in psychosocial support strategies for member groups.
With this multiyear regrant, HOCIC is continuing this training,
assisting 14 faith-based organizations to enhance the quality
of the psychosocial support and increase the number of vulnerable
children who are benefiting. Firelight funding also supports
parenting training for caregivers, childcare professionals,
and child-headed households. Funds enable HOCIC to conduct follow-up
activities, carry out exchange visits, and document and share
members’ achievements and lessons learned.
2004 – $ 6,400
HOCIC is a consortium of faith-based organizations that works
to address the needs of orphans and vulnerable children. HOCIC
trains orphan care program coordinators and provides direct
support to children affected by HIV/AIDS. They also establish
income-generating activities, the profits of which support orphan
care programs. With Firelight funding, HOCIC is training 75
young community representatives on strategies for responding
effectively to vulnerable children’s needs. In their respective
communities, these representatives will reach a total of 30,000
vulnerable children.
Back to Top
|
|
FOUNDATION FOR HOSPICES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA/ISLAND HOSPICE,
Harare
2004 – $ 14,700 (Two-year grant)
Founded in 1979, Island Hospice was the first hospice established
in Africa. With previous Firelight funding, Island initiated
a community-based Children’s Bereavement Support Project
to increase the quality of emotional care for bereaved and
ill children and their caregivers in high-density suburbs
surrounding Harare. This grant will fund refresher courses
for bereavement support group facilitators and the training
of youth in home-based care of family members living with
HIV/AIDS.
$11,000 of this grant was funded through Firelight’s
Donor Advised Fund at Tides Foundation.
2003 – $ 850
Island Hospice, the first hospice in Zimbabwe, provides end-of-life
care. In 1999, recognizing the huge impact of HIV/AIDS on
communities in and around Harare, Island Hospice expanded
its efforts to include a community-based children’s bereavement
and counseling program. The Children’s Bereavement Support
Project offers psychosocial support to children who have lost
their parents. This grant enables Island Hospice to send one
staff member to the International Children’s Hospice
Congress in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in November, 2002, to
share lessons learned from working in small support groups
with children orphaned by AIDS.
2002 – $ 26,000 (Two-year grant)
This funding covers the training of caregivers, hospital workers,
and trainers on psychosocial support techniques. The funds
also allow the Hospice to continue its group work with vulnerable
children and to offset administrative costs.
2001 – $ 33,000 (Two-year grant)
The grant pays for Island Hospice to train and support institutions
and communities involved in the care of orphans and terminally-ill
children. The training includes bereavement counseling and
therapy for caregivers of children and support sessions for
bereaved children.
Back to Top
|
|
INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS–ZIMBABWE (ICA-Z), Harare
2005 – $ 8,000
Focused on building human capacity for social change, ICA-Z’s
children and youth programs educate participants and improve
their problem-solving skills, build confidence, and engage
youth in community transformation. Firelight has supported
ICA-Z to establish a youth-friendly meeting space, the White
House, in Mufakose, a high-density suburb of Harare. Young
people visit the White House to gather information about HIV/AIDS,
to seek counseling, to learn leadership and decision-making
skills, and to socialize in a safe environment. With renewed
funding ICA-Z continues to operate the White House, provides
50 children with primary school support, and trains 20 volunteers
in home-based care.
2004 – $ 3,000
ICA-Z focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention education and awareness
raising, micro-credit finance, and community capacity building.
This grant supports ICA-Z’s efforts to establish a youth
meeting and resource center, to share HIV/AIDS prevention
and care information, and to foster community involvement
in meeting the needs of children affected by HIV/AIDS.
Back to Top
|
J.F. KAPNEK CHARITABLE TRUST, Harare
2004 – $ 32,700 (Three-year grant)
The Kapnek Trust aims to mitigate the impact of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic on the children of Zimbabwe, both through preventing
new pediatric HIV infections and by supporting an integrated
program of care for young vulnerable children. With Firelight’s
earlier grant, the Kapnek Trust provided secondary school scholarships
to 15 young women preparing for careers in health care. With
this three-year grant, the Kapnek Trust is building and equipping
three community preschools that will provide education, nutrition,
and medical support to 225 children. The children’s caregivers
will also benefit, by having time to pursue incomegenerating
activities and respite.
The entire grant was funded through Firelight’s Donor
Advised Fund at Tides Foundation.
2003 – $ 4,900
The J.F. Kapnek Charitable Trust started its Strengthening Science
for Women (SSW) scholarship program 15 years ago with the goal
of increasing the number of young women entering medicine and
the allied health professions. Since 1989, more than 200 women
have participated in the program; more than one-third of them
have completed their university or medical education. This grant
represents the second of two years of scholarship support for
15 young female students who are completing pre-university studies
in anticipation of pursuing careers in the health sciences.
2001 – $ 9,800
The funds are for 15 secondary school scholarships for young
women affected by or orphaned by HIV/AIDS who are pursuing education
in the medical and health sciences.
Back to Top
|
LUBHANCHO HOUSE, Hwange
2005 – $ 10,000
Lubhancho House operates a drop-in center for people living
with HIV/AIDS and a program of home-based care and outreach
support. Lubhancho House has mobilized and trained 60 volunteers
to address the needs of HIV-positive individuals and their families.
With Firelight funding Lubhancho House identifies 200 additional
children to receive services. It also provides educational assistance
to 250 children, organizes a recreational camp for 20 youth,
and provides food assistance to 36 child-headed families.
Back to Top
|
MAVAMBO TRUST, Harare
2003 – $ 10,000
Firelight funding enables Mavambo Trust to construct offices
for staff and volunteers and space for meetings with children
and families seeking assistance. The Mavambo Learning Centre
offers comprehensive assistance – including educational
support, counseling, and food relief – to families affected
by HIV/AIDS in Mabvuku and Tafara, high-density suburbs of Harare.
Back to Top
|
MOTHER OF PEACE COMMUNITY, Mutoko
2004 – $ 9,000
Mother of Peace Community is a residential care facility for
abandoned and neglected infants and children. Past Firelight
funding has helped the organization conduct workshops to raise
awareness about children affected by HIV/AIDS and to train families
on practical skills to meet children’s needs. The organization
also initiated community-based income-generating projects in
an effort to enhance the community’s capacity to care for
children affected by HIV/AIDS. With this grant, they will work
with the community to establish a grinding mill. Profits from
the mill will be used to address the needs of children orphaned
and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS within the community.
2002 – $ 7,800
Mother of Peace Community has built 8 houses to shelter 155
vulnerable children. This grant enables the organization to
engage the broader community by conducting participatory workshops
to raise awareness about children affected by AIDS, training
families on practical skills to meet the needs of orphans and
vulnerable children, and offering economic empowerment opportunities.
The program will reach more than 200 vulnerable children on
rural homesteads.
Back to Top
|
NEHEMIAH PROJECT, Bulawayo
2005 – $ 9,400
The Nehemiah Project responds to the needs of children affected
by HIV/AIDS in Sauerstown, a historically marginalized, mixed-race
community in urban Bulawayo. Previous Firelight funding supported
the group’s programs for vulnerable children, which include:
outreach and counseling, educational assistance, food aid, workshops
and training, and youth clubs. Renewed funding from Firelight
enables Nehemiah Project to train 50 teachers in psychosocial
support techniques for children, to offer educational assistance
to 50 children, and to develop school-based Kids’ Clubs.
2003 – $ 7,000
The Nehemiah Project works with children in Sauerstown, an extremely
poor community outside of Bulawayo. Nehemiah identifies and
offers ongoing outreach to children at risk of becoming street
children or runaways. With this funding, Nehemiah Project supports
140 children living on the streets or in child-headed households
through community outreach and mobilization. They are establishing
drop-in centers where children can obtain food, clothing, counseling,
school fees, and materials. Funds also cover the salaries of
two community workers who visit the children regularly. Finally,
they are recruiting community members to invest in the care
and education of children.
Back to Top
|
REGIONAL PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT INITIATIVE (REPSSI),
Bulawayo
2004 – $ 5,000
This grant provides REPSSI with an opportunity for networking
by funding its participation in the XVth International Conference
on HIV/AIDS held in Bangkok in July 2004. Firelight funding
helped to sponsor REPSSI’s satellite meeting on “Enhancing
Psychosocial Support for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS”
at the conference.
Back to Top
|
SALVATION ARMY MASIYE CAMP, Bulawayo
2004 – $ 23,800 (Two-year grant)
Masiye Camp offers life skills training to child heads-of-households
using experiential learning, recreational activities, and small
group discussion. Previously, Firelight funds enabled Masiye
Camp to establish an emergency fund to respond to urgent needs
faced by youth attending camp. The fund assists with expenses
such as rent, utility bills, emergency medical crises, or school
fees. This grant enables Masiye Camp to strengthen the community’s
capacity to care for HIV-positive children aged birth to five
years old by training and supporting local networks of caregivers
to offer palliative care and psychosocial support.
$11,000 of this grant was funded through Firelight’s
Donor Advised Fund at Tides Foundation.
2002 – $ 10,000
Masiye Camp’s program supports youth affected by AIDS by
training young people who are heads of households on leadership
skills, helping them cope with personal loss, and offering them
a recreational outlet. Masiye Camp is recognized as regional
center of excellence for providing emotional, legal, and life
skills support for children affected by HIV. Firelight’s
grant supports the Camp’s emergency fund, which enables
camp counselors to address urgent needs for assistance presented
to them by camp participants. Funding also covers the food expenses
for 12 Life Skills camps, reaching 1,200 youth.
2001 – $ 4,500
With the grant, Masiye Camp is establishing an emergency fund
that will assist over 200 orphans who participate in camp
activities.
2001 – $ 6,700
Grant funds enable the Camp to create ten eating areas to
improve psychosocial interactions of children and their counselors.
Back to Top
|
SCRIPTURE UNION / CHIEDZA STREET CHILDREN’S
PROGRAM, Bulawayo
2003 – $ 5,800
Scripture Union, a nondenominational Christian group, has been
working with children, youth, and families in Zimbabwe for 56
years. Their recent interest in street children’s issues
has led them to develop an area of expertise in working with
this marginalized population. Having discovered that many of
the children ending up on the streets of the nation’s largest
cities were from two provinces, they began to work with youth
in those areas to prevent them from leaving home. Chiedza is
one of those areas. Firelight funding for Scripture Union’s
Chiedza Street Children’s Program provides materials for
a drop-in center, including clothes, first aid supplies, toiletries,
and equipment. Funds also support administrative costs and staff
allowances.
Back to Top
|
SHINGIRIRAI WOMEN MABVUKU, Harare
2005 – $ 7,800
Shingirirai Women Mabvuku acts as the “eyes and ears of
the community to monitor the orphan situation,” and supports
children in coping with loss and growing into secure young people.
In addition to providing psychosocial support to households
coping with HIV/AIDS, Shingirirai operates a preschool for 60
vulnerable children, works to obtain birth certificates for
orphans, and refers vulnerable families to agencies offering
material support. With Firelight funding the organization is
mobilizing 100 community members to support children through
training workshops. Firelight funding also covers vocational
training for 25 vulnerable girls, as well as salaries for three
staff members and administrative costs.
Back to Top
|
ST. AGNES GOKWE CHILDREN’S HOME, Gokwe
South
2002 – $ 1,000
St. Agnes Gokwe Children’s Home is a residential care facility
for orphans in the isolated rural community of Gokwe. This grant
pays for furniture to upgrade the facilities at the Home.
Back to Top
|
UNITED CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
/ BONGANI ORPHAN CARE PROGRAMME, Bulawayo
2004 – $ 24,000 (Two-year grant)
The Bongani Orphan Care Programme trains volunteers to assist
children affected by HIV/AIDS by providing services such as
bereavement support and legal assistance to protect property
rights following their parents’ deaths. Previously, Firelight
funding supported the training of 450 community volunteers in
leadership skills, 100 youth and caregivers on the facts about
HIV/AIDS and basic nursing care, and 604 vulnerable youth in
small-scale income-generating activities. Current grant funds
enable Bongani to educate additional volunteers in HIV/AIDS
and reproductive health, provide children with recreational
opportunities, and support job skills training for orphans.
$11,000 of this grant was funded through Firelight’s
Donor Advised Fund at Tides Foundation.
2002 – $ 12,000
These funds enable Bongani Orphan Care Programme to offer organizational
development training to 12 church groups with newly-established
programs for children affected by AIDS. Training includes strategies
for responding to the impact of the AIDS crisis on children
in the local context. Through these programs, more than 150
volunteers will reach approximately 1,000 children with vocational
training, psychosocial support, and emergency assistance. Bongani
Orphan Care Programme’s direct services and training activities
reach 7,500 children living in Bulawayo and neighboring rural
areas.
Back to Top
|
YOUTH FOR A CHILD IN CHRIST (YOCIC), Bulawayo
2004 – $ 8,500
YOCIC is a youth-led organization that has pioneered “Kids’
Clubs,” where hundreds of children come to play, have fun,
and learn about HIV prevention and care. They also discuss with
peers how to cope with the loss of their parents and other challenges
posed by HIV/AIDS. With Firelight funds, YOCIC is establishing
a fund to meet emergency needs, training 20 youths in income-generating
activities, and providing start-up grants for small businesses.
The grant also helps the organization purchase a computer and
printer and covers administrative costs.
2004 – $ 2,900
This grant covers travel expenses associated with the YOCIC
Program Manager’s participation as a youth representative
at the XVth International Conference on HIV/AIDS in Bangkok,
Thailand.
Back to Top
|
ZIMBABWE PARENTS OF HANDICAPPED CHILDREN ASSOCIATION,
BULAWAYO BRANCH (ZPHCA), Bulawayo
2005 – $ 7,000
A group of parents of children with disabilities formed the
ZPHCA as a mutual support association that would also promote
the rights of children and youth with disabilities. In addition
to research, awareness raising, and advocacy, ZPHCA facilitates
support groups of parents and community members, teaches caregiving
strategies, provides home-based care, and trains caregivers
in income-generating activities. Funding from Firelight enables
ZPHCA to provide educational funding and nutritional support
to 50 children with disabilities. ZPHCA is also supporting 60
guardians of children with disabilities through workshops on
inheritance rights, medicinal herbs, stigma and discrimination,
and HIV prevention.
|
Back to Top
|
About Us
• Children and AIDS • Grants
Awarded • You Can Help
• Apply for a Grant •
Contact Us • Home
|
