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ORPHANS & VULNERABLE CHILDREN
Philani's Outreach workers find many children made vulnerable by being orphaned, abandoned or threatened. HIV/AIDS is a major factor in such situations. Child-headed households are frequently found, with children as young as 13 years old caring for younger siblings and other children; in other cases, elderly women are left to raise abandoned children. In response to this situation, our Outreach workers have been collecting and recording information about such children since 2006, and in June 2008 we launched a programme dedicated to addressing their needs.
We believe in supporting women in the community to support orphans and vulnerable children in their homes, without resorting to orphanages.
The new programme
The coordinator of this programme is dedicated to ensuring that each family unit has access to financial support offered by the government, that children are enrolled at pre-school or school, that firm links are made with family, care groups or faith based organisations, that adequate housing is found for the family and that each child has help establishing goals and planning for the future.
The coordinator visits 4-5 new families a day to establish the socio-economic situation of each family, to which grants they are entitled and what government or other support they are receiving. The coordinator establishes the health and nutrition status of children in the family and whether they are attending school or pre-school, as well as the support networks available to the carer in the family. A support plan is then put in place to help the family, with the coordinator carrying out follow up visits as necessary.
Developing the programme
As the programme develops, we envisage that transport will be required to carry orphans, vulnerable children and carers to clinics for HIV treatment. Resources to improve housing for such households are important, as, particularly in the case of child-headed households, accommodation is usually temporary and of poor quality. The programme will also provide resources for the education and health-care of orphans and vulnerable children.
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