Build a Home for People Living with HIV/AIDS

Dear Global Givers,

It is time for an update from Our Place-Coffee Bay, the center for people living with HIV-AIDS that we were able to open with your support.

We currently have approximately twenty children living with us, plus approximately ten adolescents and adults. All these people were no longer able to live with their biological families because of the consequences of poverty and AIDS. At Our Place they have become part of a new loving family structure where adults look after children as mother and father figures.

In addition to looking after our full-time residents, we are continuing to function as a community center offering free-meals, day care, counseling, and advocacy to the many people of the area who have been affected by the AIDS pandemic.

The children are on school holiday these days, but our kindergarten cafeteria is still open in order to provide healthy food to all the people who rely on Our Place for their sustenance. In addition to our residents, at least 15 children come to Our Place everyday to attend our kindergarten. Sadly, the biological families of these children are often too poor to feed them on a daily basis.

It is now winter in South Africa, and cabbage, spinach, and green peppers are some of the seasonal crops that we are now reaping from the vegetable garden that we started for the community. This project has made Our Place more self-sustainable by cutting down our operating costs. In addition, the garden is a very important resource for several families living in the area who are now able to work on the land. Thanks to the harvest, these people and their extended families can feed themselves with their work. As soon as our finances will allow, we will build some “vegetable tunnels” These are basic greenhouse structures that will help us generate a more abundant harvest. Each of these structures costs the equivalent of $700, and we need to build at least two in the area.

We also need to create an additional bedroom that would allow us to take in seven more children. In the area around Coffee Bay, the rate of HIV infection has reached apocalyptic proportions, and due to the conditions of extreme poverty that most people are forced to endure, the life expectancy is very low. Because of this, many children have lost their parents. Often, these children cannot be looked after by a member of their extended family because their aunts, their uncles, or grandparents might have also died of AIDS or they might be too poor to feed another mouth.

Since our last update, we have been able to build two more toilets, which we urgently needed, given the number of people who live and come to Our Place everyday.

We need to keep growing in order to meet the need for food, shelter, palliative care, and a caring family structure in the area. We need to strengthen our presence in Coffee Bay also because, by living with dignity, our people are role models in the fight against the stigma of HIV-AIDS in the community. Fighting the stigma is essential, as many of the victims of the pandemic are subjected to discrimination and abuse.

Thank you for making all this possible. Thank you from all of us, from the bottom of our hearts. And please, feel free to contact me. I will do my best to answer your questions.

Andrea Parmegiani

Dear Global Givers,

Here are some news from Our Place-Coffee Bay, the center for people living with HIV-AIDS that we opened with the help of Global Giving. Our Place-Coffee Bay continues to provide a home for about twenty people, fifteen of whom are children who can no longer live with their biological families because of the consequences of poverty and AIDS. At Our Place these people have formed a new loving family structure where adults look after them as mother and father figures.

A few of the children who attended our kindergarten last semester are now attending school (the school year begins in January in South Africa). The pre-literacy training that they received at our center has increased significantly their chances of succeeding academically. The vast majority of these children do not have pencils, paper, let alone picture books, in their homes. At our kindergarten they familiarize themselves with writing tools while learning how to count and the letters of the alphabet. They also begin to learn some English words by singing nursery rhymes. The mastery of English is very important for these children because it is the language of instruction after the fourth year of school. To serve the learning needs of our children even better, we are currently sponsoring the teacher training for one of the women of the community who will work for us as an additional kindergarten instructor.

In addition to promoting academic success, our kindergarten ensures that all the children who come to us, even those who go back to their biological families after school, receive one balanced meal every day. Sadly, it is not uncommon for the children of the area not to be fed on a daily basis, as many families have to subsist without an income.

The vegetable garden that we started for the community is also going very well. This project has made Our Place more self-sustainable by cutting down our operating costs. In addition, the garden is a very important resource for several families living in the area. There are currently 15 people from the village who are working in the garden. Thanks to the harvest, these people and their extended families can now feed themselves.

The most urgent project is the creation of an additional bedroom that would allow us to take in seven more children. In the area around Coffee Bay, the rate of HIV infection has reached apocalyptic proportions, and due to the conditions of extreme poverty that most people are forced to endure, the life expectancy is very low. Because of this, many children have lost their parents. Often, these children cannot be looked after by a member of their extended family because their aunts, their uncles, or grandparents might have also died of AIDS or they might be too poor to feed another mouth.

We need to keep growing in order to meet the need for food, shelter, palliative care, and a caring family structure in the area. We need to strengthen our presence in Coffee Bay also because, by living with dignity, our people are role models in the fight against the stigma of HIV-AIDS in the community. Fighting the stigma is essential, as many of the victims of the pandemic are subjected to discrimination and abuse.

Thank you for supporting us. From all of us, from the bottom of our hearts.

Andrea Parmegiani