The Africa Project’s Priorities

While our goal is to focus on the impact AIDS has on the lives of children in Africa, we recognize that poverty is the root that must be addressed first. Clearly, the issues are complex and the needs are many. So the question is “how can we help?”

The Africa Project has identified four priority areas to focus on as we strive to direct resources to programs that improve the lives of children.

  • Safety - Every child should have a safe place to live. Read More...
  • Health Care - Access to health care is critical. Read More...
  • Food – When you are hungry nothing else matters.  Read More...
  • Education – Hope for their future. Read More...

Programs Supported by TAP

The Africa Project partners with Sizanani Outreach Programme (SOP). Their home-based care utilizes a holistic model that includes:

  • Health Care
  • Education and Employment
  • Legal
  • Psychosocial
  • Environment
  • Nutrition

 

AIDS

Incubus born in steaming
darkness of Central Africa,
the tiniest of enemies saps a
the continent, like a swarm
of billions of mosquitoes
sucking life away.

At rural hospital in the south
it takes twenty in a month,
and no one cares where it
started or why or how, part
of an army of fear, poverty,
ignorance, disease that steals
the breast from newborn babies,
ravages the strong, burns lives
to the ground.

Africa is home
to humankind. Its
pain is our pain.

By Peggy Goetz, Africa Unfinished

Defining Child Headed Families

The Africa Project focuses a lot of our support towards "child-headed families or households," commonly defined as households where the oldest member of the family is under the age of 18. However, The Africa Project extends this definition, and our support to include:

  • Households where an adult is living, but who is unable to care for the children or themselves due to illness. In these cases, one or more of the children in the household assumes the role of head of household, caring for their sick parent and tending to the needs of their siblings. These children are at risk of dropping out of school and are vulnerable to exploitation.
  • Young adults over the age of 18 who are the caretakers of their siblings after their parents have passed away. Often, these young men and women became the caregivers of their sick parents during their illness, leaving school to do so. While they are no longer children by definition, they are still vulnerable and in need of support. In some cases, it may even be possible for them to return to school, giving them an opportunity to graduate.