1. bIt take s a Villag e to raise aIt take s a Villag e to raise a
Child.Child.
Embracing community care of Orphans andEmbracing community care of Orphans and
Vulnerable Children through enhancedVulnerable Children through enhanced
community involvementcommunity involvement
Caleb OdhiambO
OVC-SerViCe deliVery FaCilitatOr
hOPe wOrldwide Kenya

2. Millions
1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2002 2005 2007 2010
25
million
orphans
due to
AIDS
Epidemic Curves, HIV/AIDS &Epidemic Curves, HIV/AIDS & OrphansOrphans
HIV
Prevalence
Cum
ulative
AIDS
Orphans (under 18)

3. The Impact to the child
Child
Family
Help!!
CommunityCommunity

5. The challenge
• 10 years down the line since most HIV/AIDS
interventions started, the number of OVC's continue to
escalate.
• There is need to optimize the efficiency or effectiveness
of the interventions on the ground-current approaches
needs to be looked at and new trends developed.
• The number of interventions cannot match the needs on
the ground.
• The death of the communal structures that used to
cushion children.
• OVC’s earmarked for service delivery are not being
reached effectively due to the approaches in place.
• There need for an urgent and scaled-up response to
mitigate the devastating effects of HIV on children

6. Community support…. The way to go.
• Community involvement is key to enahanced
sustainabilty.
• The needs of children cannot be met in the
absence of proper community and family support.
• To complete the cycle of care, interventions
targeting the orphans and vulnerable children need
to respond to all of these needs, both physical and
emotional.
• Deliberate efforts need to put in place to enhance
synergy of efforts.

7. Spiritual
Freedom to believe,
hope, etc
Mental
Formal and informal
education, life skills,
general knowledge, etc
Social
Acceptance,
belonging, identity,
culture, etc
Physical
Food, Shelter, Clothes,
Healthcare etc
Emotional
Parental love, security,
belonging, friendships, etc
Child 
How we conceive
Community
Approach
Religiousleaders
Corporate
NGOs/CBOs
Family
Government
Teachers
Peers

8. New Thinking: Supporting OVC through the
community and the families.
Communities
Families
•Mobilize Resources
from the corporate
World.
•Enhance our
Knowledge, challenge
our thinking.
•Build partnership,
You cannot
Go it alone
•Think outside
the box
•Use history to
develop
learning
and not to stagnate

9. The strength of the model
• The best interests of the child are
paramount in this model.
• All the necessary basic needs of children are
given due attention.
• All stakeholders who affect the life of the
child are involved.
• With the high number of children in need
the emotional well being of the caregiver is
protected.

10. Entry points: Kids clubs and
Community Child care Forums.
• Kids Clubs:These are weekend
clubs in the community and
weekday clubs in schools in which
youth and children take up
leadership roles in the provision of
community based psychosocial
support to children in community.
• Main focus of clubs is to meet the
PSS needs-physical, social,
emotional and mental-though other
needs are also met indirectly.

11. CCF’s Link with the Kids Clubs
• To facilitate the provision
of community based
psychosocial support.
• To provide a platform to
support children in their
community and link them
to other services.
• To mobilize community
members to understand
and assist in mitigating the
impact of HIV/AIDS on
children.

12. How kids clubs and Community Child Care
Forums are established
Community Entry
Establish Community Childcare
Forums- which provides
linkages with AAC, local admin-
Chief, MOH, DEO,and other
service providers
Identify OVC entry points-
schools, churches
Train caregivers to form Kids
clubs.

13. Benefits to the children and community.
• Allow children the opportunity to explore the
world around them, build self-knowledge, esteem
and confidence.
• Acceptance within the community (social
integration and sense of belonging)
• Mechanism to ‘check’ on children, register needs
and access additional resources for them
• Cultivating a culture of care (amongst children
and families, in your community)-children
support groups

14. Challenges experienced
• Involvement of men especially to support
the women in child care.
• Need to develop new strategies to support
caregivers-IGA, vocational training.
• Child protection issues-individuals taking
advantage of the children’s vulnerability.
• Linking to schools to the corporate bodies,
and involving teachers more.

15. • Community “Ownership,” of a problem is key
to sustained action.
• External mobilizers using participatory
methods can play a catalytic role in enabling a
community to determine its own priorities.
• Providing external resources prematurely
subverts ownership.
• Communities are resilient and provided the
right condition can easily map their future.
Lessons Learned from Community mobilization, care and
support for OVC

16. Synergy of efforts holds the key to Restoring Hope and Stability
to the lives of millions of African Children and communities
affected by HIV/AIDS.

17. Lets learn to see children for who they
are meant to be………not who they are
right now.
Thank You.

18. THANK YOU