More health and new perspectives for orphans

AIDS orphans and children from poor backgrounds are accommodated in foster families, socially cared for and educated. Their medical care is also provided. The aim is for the children to achieve economic and social independence and thus break out of the cycle of poverty.

Due to the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS and the resulting high mortality rate, the Counselling and Home Care Section (CAHCS) was founded in the Lubaga Hospital in the capital Kampala. Under the leadership of Sister Resty Ndango and her team, care is provided for AIDS orphans from Kampala and the surrounding villages. Resty's team tries to place children in familiar surroundings, e.g. with relatives or foster families, after the death of their parents. However, the number of orphans is very high and this care is often difficult. In order to avoid placement in an orphanage, self-help groups and volunteers from the community, so-called "Guardians", are used. These specially trained Guardian Angels take care of orphans and their siblings and assume responsibility for the medical and social care as well as regular school attendance of the children. They also provide legal assistance to the children, such as clarifying property rights after the death of their parents. In addition, the Resty team offers prevention and education work on the topic of AIDS: Through visits to schools or special behaviour change programmes, children and adolescents are educated about the dangers of AIDS.

With the help of the Canchanabury campaign, school fees as well as school books and uniforms, a behaviour change workshop and support for particularly gifted children to attend secondary school can be financed for several hundred orphans and disadvantaged children.

These years of support are already bearing fruit today: many of the former kids from the programme are now adults and employed, earning their own money and now looking after other orphans, financing their education and ensuring that they too have a real chance for their future.