Catholic Outreach Programs: African Orphan Outreach Programs

In Swaziland alone there are currently 70 000 orphans. Projections by the body coordinating the HIV/AIDS fight in Swaziland, the National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS, show that the present figure will increase to 120 000 by 2010. Through different outreach programs by different organizations, something is being done to assist the growing number of orphans in Africa.

Africans believe in the concept of “ubuntu”, which is about having compassion and showing kindness to others. Africans also hold the belief that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. These beliefs have driven Africans in communities to easing the burden of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS as they have taken the children in offering them care and support. African orphan outreach has become partly a responsibility of the orphans’ relatives, extended family and community. But that alone has not been enough as the number of orphans increases daily. Furthermore because of drought, poverty and other socio-economic crises, not many families in the communities are able to take care of orphans. Their poor economic situations make life difficult because with the little they have, they must also take care of their own children and families. These community outreach programs make a difference.

At chiefdom level, there are also community based outreach programs such as the cultivation of fields to provide food for orphans. Chiefs provide a piece of land and government contributes funds for the purchase of farm implements and seeds for different crops including maize, sorghum and beans. The community members contribute vegetables, their time and their manpower to tend to the fields until the harvest is ready.

When ready, the produce is shared equally amongst the orphan homes within the community and this is also facilitated at chiefdom level.

Also, as part of community orphan outreach programs, governments with the cooperation of international agencies like UNICEF and the World Food Programme, have set up a network of volunteer-run neighbourhood care points (NCPs) in communities heavily affected by HIV/AIDS, where there are many orphans. This orphan outreach programme ensures that the children get a balanced meal, have companionship in a stable environment and experience some love and care from adults being the volunteers. Volunteers in a community can be from the community or any other community – as long as it is a willing somebody. The NCP’s range from outdoor meeting points to small two-room buildings where orphans learn to count and read, eat two meals a day and receive health treatment from a mobile clinic operating out of a flatbed truck whenever available.

Other orphan outreach programs include:

Corporate or Company Outreach Programs

Company staff members dedicate some time to work in community-based orphan outreach programs. They usually put together some money and visit the place and at times hand out food parcels and clothes for the orphans.

NGOs, charity organizations Outreach Programmes

Local civil society organizations and charity organizations develop orphan outreach programs through which they provide survival skills training, psychosocial counseling and even sustainable agricultural education. The charity organizations often mobilize their members to donate towards taking care of a certain element of orphan care such as buying them school uniforms or even sponsoring an orphan’s education.

Rivers, boaters, workers blessed in annual event
Madeya, of St. John the Baptist church, shared the Ukrainian Catholic tradition, often celebrated in January to bless regional waters in the New Year, with those who attended the eighth annual “Blessing of our Rivers, Boats, City and People” on … Read more on Tribune-Review

Help & support
n CELEBRATE RECOVERY: A Christ-centered 12-step recovery program based on the Scripture and open to the public, will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays at Bethany Church, 500 Breakfast Hill Road, Greenland. E-mail [email protected], or come to … Read more on Exeter News-Letter