Family
Care Foundation partner Kwasha Mukwenu Women's Group
Volunteer Community-based Effort
Kwasha Mukwenu Women's Group is an active
volunteer community-based effort to care for HIV/AIDS orphans. It was formed
by a group of 22 women from different churches and denominations that felt moved
by the plight of orphans in their neighborhoods, especially those orphaned due
to HIV/AIDS. Some of the volunteers are widows themselves and therefore realize
the need to support and provide care to the children, Each of the volunteers
has been assigned to zones in the Matero Township that they are familiar with
or live close to in an effort to provide effective services coupled with the
fact that they know the children as well as being known by the children.
The organization provides parental care
for orphans in lieu of sending them to orphanages. Realizing that the traditional
extended family has been over-burdened, Kwasha Mukwenu provides psychosocial
support to the families in order to strengthen them to not give up on orphaned
children.
The objectives of the Kwasha Mukwenu Women's
Group is to:
- Reduce the suffering of the orphans
- Reduce the number of vulnerable children
- Provide psychosocial support to orphans and their caregivers
To respond to both the psychosocial and material needs of the children, Kwasha Mukwenu employs the following strategies:
- Providing primary and secondary school education
- Providing medical support, food, clothing
- Promoting income-generating activities for care givers and older orphans
- Empowering children with leadership skills
- Providing psychosocial support to help children make wise choices
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