South Africa Partners

JOHN WESLEY CENTRE- Johannesburg

Learning computer skills at the John Wesley Centre. Photo: Jeannethe Lara

Project: HIV Orphan Support Program

Activities include: Orphan care; Community education and training; Counseling; Harm reduction; Income generation; Prevention; Grandmothers support FOR adolescents, children, orphans, persons living with HIV/AIDS, women.

The HIV Orphan Support Program serves HIV orphans in impoverished areas in Etwatwa, a neighbourhood of Johannesburg, South Africa. The program ensures that vulnerable and orphan children are not institutionalized but are fostered by families in their neighbourhood. To this date this program is assisting up to 250 orphaned and vulnerable children. The foster family makes sure that the children are looked after properly. They visit them at least twice a day and ensure that they have proper meals and clean clothing. They take them to doctor visits, attend school meetings, and will read a story before bed time. After school, a bus collects the children every day and brings them to the center where they are provided with a hot meal and are helped with homework. A pre-school unit provides care to 40 children a year. Another component of the program is the distribution of food parcels to orphan foster families, benefitting 20 local families. This type of support relieves the foster families for few hours and creates a good environment for the children to continue to live normal lives in spite of their loss.

The Centre runs a training programme that has proven to be very effective in providing families and individuals with practical information about HIV and AIDS, with skills in caring for the sick, with referrals to government agencies, and other forms of support. A core group of 14 young adults form the Support Team and are doing an excellent job of running the project at the Centre. They provide Home Assessment, Pastoral Visitation, Training, Counselling, Children’s Counselling, After-School Care, Embroidery and HIV+ Support Group.

What difference does PWRDF partnership make? 
PWRDF has funded this program since 2003. PWRDF was the only funder of this program initially. The program is now well-established and the John Wesley Community Center is beginning to attract other donors.

Project: HIV and AIDS Hospice

Activities include: hospice services to people dying with AIDS; orphan referral program; outreach and education; education on violence against women and young girls. 

Temba House receives people that have being discarded by hospitals because they are not responding to treatment and are expected to die.  Temba House provides around the clock services for patients in the hospice and has a recovery rate of 70%.  They also identify vulnerable children, when parents are taken into the hospice, and place the children with a partner agency called Bethany House – Children’s Heaven.

What difference has PWRDF partnership made? PWRDF funding has allowed the agency to pay a small salary to the volunteers in the hospice.  It has also allowed the launch of a project that raises community awareness about violence against women and young girls.

PWRDF entered partnership in 2004.