Home for AIDS Orphans
Paraphrased Mission: Homes for AIDS Orphans works to improve living conditions and build homes for children who have lost parents due to AIDS in Mwandi, Zambia. Their housing project allows for volunteers to build traditional mud huts to provide recipients with safe and stable housing.
The OCTW Connection: This organization and issue are very close to me because last year I volunteered for Homes for AIDS Orphans for two weeks. I travelled down to Mwandi, Zambia and helped build mud huts. While I was there, I met many of the orphaned children that were being impacted by Homes for AIDS Orphans. This experience was gratifying and life altering and one of the primary inspirations for the OCTW mission.
Facts and figures about the issue: In Zambia there are over 1.4 million orphans in a population of 14 million people, and around 40% have been orphaned because of the AIDS epidemic. 9% of the AIDs orphans are under the age of 15, and the numbers are rapidly increasing. Orphans are often forced to live on the streets after being displaced, and around 80,000 children are on the streets in the capital Lusaka. Around 80% of Zambia’s population is living below the poverty line on less than $1 a day. Being poverty stricken, half of all Zambian children are classified as malnourished and suffer from stunted growth.
Regional Context: Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a country in Southern-Central Africa. Zambia’s population is 14 million people and 73 distinct tribes in the country. Originally colonized by the British in the 18th century, Zambia became independent of the United Kingdom in 1964. In the recent decades, Zambia has faced national economic troubles and political turmoil within the country
Educational Resources:
Kids Alive
How to get involved: Homes for Aids Orphans is established for volunteers to travel to Mwandi to help; they have a lodge in the village for volunteers to stay at. However, they also accept monetary donations.