Food Security Zimbabwe Project #2818

Food and Self-Reliance for AIDS Orphans

by American Foundation for Children with AIDS

Project Report | Oct 6, 2026
Woman's Vision Gives Orphans a Brighter Future

By Gary | Partner in Africa

Alpha Teens is a support group founded 5 years ago by Mrs Sitheni Ncube in her home village of Dula in Southern Zimbabwe.

Sitheni, now 45 years old, has been living with HIV since she was 18. She came to realize that young people in her village had no idea of what Aids is and how it is transmitted. Being a teacher by profession and a nurturer at heart, she started speaking to people about the pandemic and soon discovered that there were several teenagers in Dula who were HIV+ and that they had no access to any counselling or guidance. She decided to take action and founded the support group.

Fast forward 5 years and the group now has 32 regular members most of whom are orphans.The guidance and counselling has evolved into training the young people in various aspects of farming and basic skills training ... baking, hairdressing,brick making etc.

Sitheni's vision is to prepare and equip all of the young people to live as normal a life as possible in spite of their condition and have the same life opportunities as others. AFCA partnered with the group in 2024 to assist in this vision and to get the group members to the stage that if need be in the future they have the skills to be self reliant in as many aspects of life as possible.

AFCA supports a vegetable garden, bee project, mushroom growing, poultry farming (eggs and broilers) and rabbit breeding at the small farm plot in Dula. Thank you for your continued support of this remarkable woman Sitheni and the Alpha Teens project, giving these orphans hope for a better and brighter future.

The team here at the American Foundation for Children with AIDS thanks you for supporting this project and the work we do for the children in Africa. If you would like to learn even more about what we do or how you can meet some of the children you have helped, please contact Tanya Weaver at tweaver@AFCAids.org.

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