News from the Mission
Small Grants Program Combats the Spread of HIV/AIDS, Alleviates Suffering
President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) awards $330,000 to Western, Northern and Eastern Cape community-based organizations
October 9, 2007
Cape Town – 4 October 2007 Thirty-three community groups from around the Western, Northern, and Eastern Cape Provinces were recently awarded more than R2,3 million by the U.S. Government’s PEPFAR Small Grants program to help combat the spread of HIV/AIDS and alleviate the suffering caused by the infection. Over two-thirds of the grants will go towards helping orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs), and the remainder will support the work of volunteer home-based caregivers.
At the grant-signing ceremony in Cape Town, Ambassador Eric Bost highlighted the fact that these grants are unique in that they will go directly to the people in their communities, not via an intermediary. In the Northern Cape towns of Hartswater and Kuruman, Consul General Helen La Lime signed grant agreements with community groups who shared stories from the frontlines of the fight against HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDS Small Grants are part of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program through which the United States government has contributed R2,8 billion towards the fight against HIV/AIDS in South Africa in 2007.
Grant recipients include:
Abaphumeleli Orphanage, Khayelitsha (WC)
Run out of a private home by a traditional healer, this orphanage provides stability and support for over 20 children, who are able to attend school regularly, and for those who are HIV positive, go to the doctor. With other parents and children in the community, the orphanage has established an after-school program, and a choir, which gives the orphans a sense of belonging in the larger community.
Goedgedacht Trust, Riebeeksrivier Valley (WC)
Volunteers assist vulnerable children in 10 Safe Houses on farms, where children have a place of refuge within walking distance, where they where they get meals, emotional support, access to medical care, and find protection from physical and sexual abuse. Goedgedacht hopes to open Safe Houses on an additional 22 farms.
Itshireletse, Seoding (NC)
Itshireletse provides home-based care, and support to over 50 orphans and vulnerable children, such as ensuring they receive IDs and grants, attend school, and intervene in discipline problems in child-headed housholds. The grant will allow them to recruit several more caregivers, as well as provide a transport fund so they can get a patient to hospital in a car rather than the wheelbarrow they have been using.
Masivuke, Keiskammahoek (EC)
Founded by a small group of people who had lost loved ones to HIV/AIDS, Masivuke provides counselling, home-based care, and support for orphans and vulnerable children. They have also been advocates for their patients, including successfully urging the Eastern Cape Health Department to implement the ARV program at their nearest hospital.
Tlokomelo Botshelo Home-Based Care, Gatoate (NC)
This is the second year of funding for Tlokomelo Botshelo, where volunteers care for the sick free of charge. The training received from last year’s grant focused on basic home-based care, TB and HIV/AIDS. This year, training focuses on the rights and care of orphans and vulnerable children.