The debilitating impact of AIDS on orphans is reaching alarming
proportions. Described as the world's "silent crisis", this growing
number of orphans is putting severe pressure on traditional family
responsibilities and national health education systems in many
countries throughout the world.
AIDS has robbed sub-Saharan Africa of much of its parent population, leaving millions of children orphaned and destitute. In Zambia, for example, out of a population of 11,000,000, almost 1,000,000 children have lost one or both parents to the pandemic, coupled with malaria and tuberculosis.
Yet there is a glimmer of hope.
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Moving AIDS orphans from despair to hope
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Bente Sivertsen inter-acts with school children
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Dr Deva-Marie Beck talks to voluntary teachers
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A small project, located in the squatter settlement of Chigwirizano, situated about fifteen miles west from the centre of Lusaka, Zambia's capital, is showing the way about what can be done to help AIDS orphans.
WE CAN Aid Orphans — a non-profit organization developed by a group of Zambians — both in Africa and some residing in Canada — is working hand in hand with Chigwirizano residents to care for the large number of AIDS orphans in the community.
Chigwirizano is home to about 200 families.
About 40 per cent of households are single-parent families, headed by women. Most
of the women work in limestone quarries where they break rocks with their bare hands to sell to the construction industry. Most of Lusaka is built on limestone.
The women eke out a living selling piles of
rock, which they stack along the roadsides. Construction trucks stop by and buy the rocks for a pittance.
The majority of the rest of the 60 per cent of the families have no jobs and do piece work to survive. A few work in the city market, where they sell food and other items.
WE CAN firmly believes that the best care for vulnerable children is firmly in the hands of existing families, supported by local communities.
Instead of parachuting expert solutions from the outside, WE CAN bases its approach on community participation, working with local leaders to identify community needs and then developing initiatives to meet them.
Chigwirizano is WE CAN's first project. They asked the residents: “What do you need to cope with the AIDS orphans?” “Schools!”, was the overwhelming response. The nearest school is over 10 kilometres away.
There are about 300 children in
Chigwirizano. About 60 of them have lost both their parents to AIDS and a further 200 are orphans with one surviving parent. The rest attend a community school as their parents cannot afford to buy them uniforms.
In 2004, with little money in hand, but backed buy a lot of ingenuity and commitment, WE CAN set about assisting the community to build a school.
WE CAN volunteers found unused telephone poles, which formed the structure of the school. Cemented in place, the poles provided support for a roof constructed from elephant grass, collected and thatched by women. Voluntary donations from well-wishers in Canada bought cinder blocks to build the school walls. The children helped to build desks and benches.
Local teachers jumped in to help. At the beginning, twelve teachers, took turns to teach without pay in two to three shifts during the day to meet the fierce demand for education by the community. Of the teachers, nine had been laid off from their government jobs due to World Bank recommended budget cuts in the public sector. The other three were teaching in a school about ten kilometres away. But most of them have moved on, finding work elsewhere. The school now has four voluntary teachers.
During her trip visit to Africa, NIGH International Co-Director, Dr. Deva-Marie Beck, visited the project to get a first hand view of progress. She was accompanied by Ms. Bente Sivertsen, recently the Chief Professional Nursing Officer in the Danish Nurses organization and now, the newly appointed Regional Adviser for nursing and midwifery, World Health Organization EURO, based in Copenhagen.
At the school, Deva noticed the eagerness, alertness and self-discipline of the children. She recalls: "Walking through open doorway, I was amazed to see the large structure filled to overflowing with students of all ages, waiting quietly for us to speak to them. I was moved by their earnestness and the commitment of the volunteer teachers. The children are very serious in their desire to learn. They appreciate this opportunity to do so."
Bente had similar feelings: "It is wonderful to know that such an inspiring school project exists where it is needed, right here, in Zambia. Now that I have visited the school and met project leaders, teachers and all these children myself, I am even more committed to contributing to education projects and to telling my nursing colleagues about the opportunity to also do so.
"I think that we can, as nurses, find more ways to further support a school like this. Projects like this are so worthy of our attention and care!"
Through the school, some 160 children are on their way to preparing to grow up ready for the years ahead. The school is first phase of WE CAN's involvement in the community. As the many in the community are experienced farmers, the project hopes to establish a
cooperative farm, which they can use for market gardening.
Armed with their experience in Chigwirizano, WE CAN aims to develop similar projects to help AIDS orphans in other communities.
by Don de Silva, Changeways International, with input from Dr. Deva-Marie Beck and Bonaventure Bowa
Information:
To make a donation in support of the Chigwirizano Community School, send a cheque or Money Order -- made payable to “WE CAN Aid Orphans" -- to:
Bonaventure Bowa
12 Forbes Avenue
Kanata Ontario K2L 2L8 Canada
Mr. Bowa can be reached by phone (613) 447 9239 or email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
with questions, comments or suggestions.
WE CAN Aid Orphans Executive Committee Members:
- Dr. Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, Professor Emerita — Canada
- H.E. Bonaventure Bowa, former Zambian Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva — Canada & Zambia
- Brigadier General Joseph Chitomfwa, (Rtd) — Zambia
- Wayne Kines, World Media Institute — Canada
- Joseph Kosa, Business Leader — Zambia
- London Ngoma, Business Leader — Zambia
- Clement Mugala, Management Consultant — Canada and Zambia
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