Strengthening Households And Community Structures To Support Orphan And Vulnerable Children (OVC)

Through the support of Project Concern International (PCI), Humana People to People Botswana works on strengthening households and community structures to be able to support OVC and to increase uptake of HIV prevention, care and treatment services. The project focuses on children, adolescent girls and young women, adolescents living with HIV, HIV exposed infants, young mothers and adult men in Gaborone, Southern and Kweneng districts. The project activities build upon years of Humana People to People Botswana’s work with community mobilization and uptake of services. 

Although the numbers of orphans has been consistently declining in Botswana, it has become evident from the project that there are several other vulnerabilities that children face such as child neglect, drug and alcohol abuse, child abuse, domestic violence, and abject poverty. These emerging needs for children have challenged the project to be more inclusive in dealing with issues affecting the OVC. The project used Household Case Management, to identify and provide monthly school monitoring to 702-school going OVCs.

Through the HOPE center in Kanye the project provided homework assistance to the OVC under after school care initiative. In its pursuit for quality education the project through the community identified those who dropped out of school and re-integrated them into schools. In an effort to build resilience among adolescent girls and young woman, the project identified and recruited 456 adolescent girls and young women into the ready to work program.

The aim of the ready to work program was to equip the beneficiary with knowledge they need at the place of work thereby contributing to the attainment of Social Development Goal 8: Decent work and Economic growth. Beneficiaries were also given lessons on money skills, work skills, HIV prevention, correct and con¬sistent condom use, overcoming barriers to condom use and fighting Gender-Based Violence (GBV).