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AIDS Widows & Orphans
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| Fr. Emmanuel Kizito
Dolamba giving pastoral counseling to the group. | |
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| An HIV-positive child
being weighed before seeing the doctor. |
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A child headed family
in their banana plantation.
Annet, the eldest girl, is in charge of the
family. |
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| An HIV-positive child
with the mother. Every Wednesday, HIV-positive children are treated for
opportunistic
infections. | |
Stainability of AWOFS Programme:
This project demonstrates that it is possible to have an alternative to
the welfare approach, even when living under the death sentence of AIDS. Initially AWOFS gave grants, but
changed over to a system of loans in order to make the programme less dependent
on external inputs, as repayments gradually build up a revolving loan fund. It
is unlikely that AWOFS will become completely self-supporting, since the nature
of their illness means that clients often have periods of sickness, which may
slow their rate of repayments. Also, the spread of HIV/AIDS is such that there
are ever increasing numbers who wish to benefit from this project.
Nonetheless, this project has clearly shown that the loans approach is
possible. Of the 1,000 income generating activities started during
the project's lifetime, 70% are still operational. A loan manual has been
developed as a practical guide for both staff and clients, and recently revised
in light of experience. A greater emphasis on training and book-keeping, using
simple basic formats, has greatly improved performance there, and AWOFS
continues to improve the quality and scope of training and follow-up. Although
some loan repayments still have to be rescheduled due to clients ill-health,
their children are increasingly able to assume responsibility for running the
family's project.
Supporting Documents:
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