HUSA Center for Children

When I visited Kimamba in 2005 I began to see the great need for a center for these children. I found a group of local villagers who felt the same way and we began discussing what could be done, but first there needed to be some ground work done within the government there. I returned in 2007 and the center was registered as an orphanage and we had found a building that could be used to cook 2 meals/day and as a central meeting place for the children. The center at this time was more of a day care service because the children were unable to go to school for lack of resources and because there was no place for them to sleep a foster housing project was set up in the village for the children. In Canada, I worked with community groups and held fundraisers and was able to raise over $10, 000 for the center which enable the group to purchase a full building that could house all the children, provide 3 meals/day and have all the children go to school. In 2009, I returned and so much more needs to be done. There are more children being orphaned and recently there was a flooding of the area that caused damage to the home and makes an increased risk for Malaria. A shortage of lumber in the area has prevented the beds from being completed and therefore the bednets cannot yet be hung. These problems are what we are working with now, but the most challenging problem is that these children are stigmatized because of their situation and that their parents died from AIDS. Their HIV status is still unknown because the community feels that they should not be tested and the local doctors will not test them because they say 'if they are positive, their hearts will break and they will die sooner'. This is our biggest challenge and needs to be solved because many of these children are at risk for infection and need to receive proper treatment.