The impact of HIV and AIDS on children, extended families and communities is devastating.

Sister Francis Krige is part of a team, working with the South African Bishops' Conference, which tries to bring about change in the lives of children whose parents have died.

The team has piloted an "After School Care Programme" in four places. 

Sr Francis says:

South Africa’s HIV epidemic- one of the worst- shows no evidence of decline.  What has given me the greatest hope working for the SACBC (Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference) AIDS Office in the area of orphans and vulnerable children infected and affected by Aids, is to witness to how the people in a particular place are ready to respond to the needs of those suffering in their community.  The people, willing to respond, are themselves poor and give of their scarcity. They give their time, love, care and respect and whatever they have received in material goods to these children.

  Most of the projects working with children began as feeding schemes.  As an OVC team we have been challenged to increase the number of services provided to children to improve the quality of their lives especially those heading households.  We undertook to train childcare workers in the areas of psychosocial support, after school care programmes, vegetable gardening and poultry farming.  This helps projects to implement afterschool care programmes and provide nutrition for themselves and others and a possibility of a small income.

My work has involved helping communities to do the monitoring and evaluation at the sites so that they are able to identify their own needs, improve the quality of their service and do the reporting required by the funding agents.

Sr Francis Krige, OP