Build a Home for People Living with HIV/AIDS

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