Children living under poverty are usually exposed for various and complicated forms of abuses. They are exposed for various types of economic, psychosocial and health problems. More severely exposed are those children who have been orphaned and still more severe would it be for children orphaned due to AIDS. The project aims to reduce the vulnerability of OVCs and PLWHAs through providing community-based home-based service for PLWHA, and promote holistic development for orphans and vulnerable children through the provision of basic and psychosocial support. Major project activities include: Home based care and support packages for PLWHAs, comprehensive support for OVCs and economical support for OVC care givers through IGAs. Strengthen the Community Base Organization (CBO) like Idris to enable them take responsibility after this project phased out; The rural IGA will be organized based on their experience that is by sheep reproduction & fattening, but developed to modern practice through training. Likewise, the urban GA, poultry production is very common in DebreZeit town and have many organizations that can support our beneficiaries technically. Therefore, both rural and urban IGAs will be sustained are the strategies for the sustainability of the project.
Brief Project Description
The project area in DebreZiet town and the surrounding peasant associations, and Ada’a district. The estimated population of the target Woreda is 293,868 (140,031 Male, 153,837 Female). Of the total population, 64.82% are living in rural and the rest 35.08% in urban areas. Like other areas of Ethiopia, the problem of HIV has become a serious issue that calls urgent intervention of different stakeholders in the district. According to the current estimated data, HIV/AIDS transmission rate in urban and rural areas of the district is 10% and 6% respectively. The data further indicated that the spread of AIDS is more common among the sexually active age groups that range from 20-44, which are the most productive sections of the society.
DebreZiet has been the home base for the Ethiopian Air-Force that constitutes nearly 45% of the employed population of the town. DebreZiet still entertains huge numbers of military personnel including Air–Force, Air- borne and other members of the army. Most of the populations in DebreZiet town were military personnel and their dependents. As a result of change of government and economic restructuring many people were displaced from their jobs and unemployment rate has rapidly increased causing food crises and other socio-economic problems such as deprivation from different social, educational and health services. This affected the living condition of the community in general and forced children and women to roam round helplessly and engage in different socially disapproved activities like streetism and prostitution.The town also entertains a number of truck drivers on their way from Djibouti, and other cities of the country. Besides, farmers and traders from the surrounding rural areas usually come to the town for various purposes and stay in the town for one or two days which is particularly true in the market days where they stay with their extra marital sexual partners. Therefore, the target area for this project is both urban area (DebreZiet town) and its rural vicinities.
Compared with its size, the town contains so many bars, hotels and local drinking homes. A recent survey made has indicated that there are nearly 2000 waiters and bar ladies working in different bars and hotels. Although there is no clearly documented evidence as to its prevalence, a recent survey made highlights the root causes and underlying factors that aggravate the transmission of the pandemic in the area as follows.
Urban
- High prevalence of commercial sex
- The nature of the town i.e., DebreZiet is mainly a military town entertaining military personnel coming from different parts of the
- Location of the town i.e., it is found on the main road entertaining truck drivers, rail road drivers and others, proximity to the capital city (Addis Ababa) that people come and spend on weekend for recreation purpose and exercise illegal and socially disapproved
- High No of drug entertaining rooms
Rural
- High accessibility to the urban and a higher rural- urban migration in search of employment or to supplement their income by engaging in casual work and movement of young students to the town for high school
- Nearness to metropolitan city and high population
- Cultural barriers: prevalence of sexual abuse and harmful traditional practices like abduction, rape, early marriage, Schoolgirls are primary targets of sexual abuse practices. A recent survey on the magnitude of sexual abuse and harmful traditional practices in the rural areas of the district indicated high prevalence rate. For example, out of 180 sampled girls, 42.2% of them were victims of sexual abuse. Abduction is taken as a marriage strategy in rural communities. The couples do not have premarital HIV test. The rate of harmful traditional practices including FGM rate is reported to be 90%. The traditional healers/circumcisers are using un sterilized blades and knives and the chance of contracting HIV is very high.
- Stigma and discrimination against PLWHA: it is a reality and undeniable fact that PLWHA suffer from stigma and discrimination; even children in schools who have infected parents or relatives are equally stigmatized and harassed by other children and the society as well.
- Promiscuity: it is usual and common in rural areas that even married people have extramarital sexual partner.
- Rural urban migration in search of employment and hence increasing the number of commercial sex workers.
As common to all in the wider world, OVC and other households affected by HIV/AIDS in the project area face a bleak future. Compared to children orphaned by other causes, AIDS orphans are at higher risk of illness, malnutrition, abuse, neglect, and sexual exploitation. In addition, AIDS orphans are subjected to stigma and discrimination, and in frequent cases, they are denied the access to education, health care, and other social services. Children living under poverty are usually exposed for various and complicated forms of abuses. They are exposed for various types of economic, psychosocial and health problems. More severely exposed are those children who have been orphaned and still more severe would it be for children orphaned due to AIDS. Life gets harder for them, because they have lacked Appropriate Parental love and care, adequate nutrition clothing, maltreatment and abuse, and less legal protection. Health problems due to malnutrition, poor sanitation and poor (environmental) living are wide spread, they lack appropriate education, and missing adequate education is so severe especially in this part of the world because education is the most appropriate way out to escape the intergenerational poverty.
The orphan crisis has had profound social and economic impacts undermining decades of social advances and threatening to destabilize entire societies. The care of orphans often falls to impoverished grandparents, many of who depended on financial support from adult children who died of AIDS. This assistance is needed to strengthen communities, improve access to basic social services, and bolster educational programs to prevent the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS, the report concluded.
A significant percent of them have dropped out of school because the economic problem that they encountered after the death of their parents constrained them from buying the necessary school supplies and uniforms and pay for school fees. 34 % of them do not have the access to clean piped water, and only 32.6 % have access to a privately owned toilet and more than half of these children are not well clothed and are living under poor personal hygienic conditions.
Project Location
This Specific project will be implemented in Oromiya Regional State, Eastern Showa Zone, in Ada’a District (just 45 km away from the capital city Addis Ababa).
Description of the proposed project
The project entitled Home based care to PLWHA, and community-based care and support for highly Vulnerable Children will be implemented in Debre Zeit town and Ada’a distict in 2012. The project contributes to the realization of the national strategy for HIV/AIDS and sustainable livelihood improvement.
Objective of the Project
The project aims to reduce the vulnerability of OVCs and PLWHAs through providing community-based home-based service for PLWHA, and promote holistic development for orphans and vulnerable children through the provision of basic and psychosocial support.
Major project activities include: Home based care and support packages for PLWHAs, comprehensive support for OVCs and economical support for OVC care givers through IGAs.
The project targets the whole population in DebreZiet town and Ada’a Woreda. In particular, 100 orphans and vulnerable children will be provided though educational materials & school support, health & sanitation support, clothing and nutritional support. 40 PLWHAs with home-based care services, 20 PLWHAs with medical treatment and 40 PLWHAs with nutritional support. 60 OVC care givers (guardians) provided with skill training and Income generating opportunities.
The IGA package has four groups one in rural that encompasses 15 people will be supported to reproduce sheep, the remaining 45 people in the urban setting will be organized as group IGA divided by three groups to have 15 members in each group for safe management. The urban beneficiaries will be supported to establish poultry production. The rural IGA beneficiaries will be organized as self-help group at local rural Kebele social affair office. The office will supervise and counsel the beneficiaries continuously and will make a wise control over them not to misuse the IGA property the organization will hand over them. Rural OVC guardians will be supported personally to run their own business. On the other hand, they will have strong self-help group and have a meeting once per two weeks to discuss on their IGA business and also drop some amount of many as saving regularly. The urban IGA beneficiaries (OVC guardians) will be organized as micro enterprise in order to get very important facilities such as free or less renting working place, technical support, free training opportunities, loan from government (if they need to expand their business) etc. Similar to the rural IGA beneficiaries, the IGA startup capital will also provide in kind to urban IGA beneficiaries to.
Strategies for the Sustainability:
Despite that it is difficult to sustain the project by itself after a year; there are different mechanisms to put in place for the sustainability, out of these:
- Strengthen the Community Base Organization (CBO) like Idirs to enable them take responsibility after this project phased out.
- Make sound Income Generating Activities (IGA) on poultry production and sheep reproduction for the care givers of OVC and conduct strong follow up to ensure continuous profits.
- The rural IGA will be organized based on their experience that is by sheep reproduction & fattening, but developed to modern practice through training. Likewise, the urban IGA, poultry production is very common in DebreZeit town and have many organizations that can support our beneficiaries technically. Therefore, both rural and urban IGAs will be sustained.
- Both rural and urban IGAs will be organized as self-help group to exercise saving and loan by themselves and will have linkage with sideline offices of the government, microfinance’s, and private organizations
- Home Base Care givers will develop resource map and have great contribution by proceeding networking after the project phased out.
- Establish strong network with stakeholders and referral system during the project period to continue the trend by the CBO when the project is terminated.
Project Budget
All materials and Expenses that will be needed to complete the project.
Listed/described in budget breakdown
Sources of Funding:
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- The organization or local community’s Contribution $ Birr xxxx USD)
- Other Sources of Financing (Genesis Farms Ethiopia) Birr xxxxx USD Others total contribution: Birr xxxxx (XXX USD)
- Small Grants to Community-based Organizations program donations: Birr XXX (XXXX USD)
- Total Required Budget of the project = Birr XXX (XXX USD)
Project Beneficiaries: Direct: 240 and Indirect 1440, then Total =1430 beneficiaries
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- of PLWHA receiving services: 80
- of Male OVC (under 18) receiving services: 40
- of Female OVC (under 18) receiving services: 60 # of OVC care givers: 60
Number of Indirect Beneficiaries for the project: 1440
The very most indirect beneficiaries of this particular project are the households of the direct beneficiaries. The households of the direct beneficiaries will be benefited from both from the service delivery support and also from the income generating activities.
