CHABA, based in West Windham, Vermont, raises awareness in the United States of the plight of children in sub-Saharan Africa affected by HIV/AIDS and supports community-based projects for these children in Namibia, Rwanda and South Africa.

In South Africa, we began our travels with the Rev. Lynne Coull, the Anglican provincial AIDS coordinator for the Diocese of the Highveld, which is a very large area to the east of Johannesburg. We drove several hours to the settlement of Röikkoppen, in the town of
Standerton, where we were joined by the local Anglican priest, the Rev. Joe Khumalo, and Themba Maseko, the principal of the Shukuma Primary School. The Anglican Church feeds 59 children at the school, but the needs in the community are great.

Röikkoppen is an "informal settlement" composed of miles of corrugated tin houses. Piles of garbage, festooned with shredded plastic bags, abound in this treeless and dusty community. Though Röikkoppen is an area that receives a large number of refugees from neighboring countries, nonresidents are not eligible for government services. These refugees are penniless. Additionally, Themba estimated the unemployment rate in Röikkoppen to be 80 percent. Some 700 children attend the school, and Themba said that about a third of them are orphans.

"Almost every week another mother dies," she said. "Many of the children are hungry and have to go house to house to ask for food. Many children are forced to leave school at age 13 or14 to try to earn a living through sex-work."

Creativity under duress
Even under such difficult conditions, we found community residents being very creative about how they could help their neighbors. We were impressed with a community-based child- and youth-care service delivery model called ISIBINDI -- Creating Circles of Care. This model has been used successfully in other areas of South Africa and was just getting started in Röikkoppen.

Funded in part by the U.S. Agency for International Development President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the program trains selected community youth who have finished secondary school to act as surrogate parents and child advocates for orphaned and vulnerable families. They receive two years of training in social work and credits towards advanced education.

Each is assigned to five or six families of children who either are orphaned or living with sick parents. Participants are paid a stipend to help the children learn to cook, shop, budget and apply for grant monies. They provide the children some relief from their overwhelming loneliness and educate them in safe behaviors and HIV/AIDS prevention. They cook breakfast, help with homework and teach the children traditional songs and games.

As we have in so many other parts of Africa, we found in Röikkoppen amazing energy and hope in the face of very desperate conditions. Since our return, Coull has asked for and received CHABHA funding to create a "Safe Park" for the children in the ISIBINDI program. It will provide a place for the children to gather with their youth workers, to play and to learn traditional music and games away from the dangers that surround them in the community at large. CHABHA is very excited to take part in launching this innovative program.

Rwanda programs thriving
Our next stop was Rwanda, where most of CHABHA's funding is directed. We were happy to find that all of the projects that the organization supports there are thriving and growing.

We attended the graduation of the second cooking class from Project Independence, a program to train children who are unable to attend or finish secondary school in specific, marketable vocational skills such as restaurant work, auto mechanics and hair dressing. This program has been highly successful, and many of the graduates already have found jobs and are able to support their families.

We hosted a retreat at Lake Kivu for the CHABHARwanda staff as well as the leaders of Amahoro, AJESOV and Agape, which are the three associations of orphans and child-headed households in Rwanda that our organization's funds support. Besides lots of laughter and fun, there were interesting discussions about gender issues as they relate to HIV. There were also budget and planning sessions with each of the associations, as the number of children in need continues to grow.

One of the great highlights of our trip was distributing 680 "duduza" or comfort dolls, hand knitted by people from all over the country, but especially from Massachusetts and Vermont. If you could see the looks on the children's faces you would know why they are called comfort dolls.

It was a moving, inspiring, loving and motivating trip for all of us. We brought home a renewed sense of the great resourcefulness and generosity of the human spirit, and greetings from friends in Rwanda and South Africa.