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The AED Support
Pack Project is helping to improve the quality of life for children
orphaned by AIDS in Kenya and their caregivers. It enables more
families to utilize services such as support groups, immunization
and preschool, and provides items such as blankets, notebooks,
and insecticide-treated bednets. For every $100 raised, an orphaned
child will receive a pack, and their family will receive weekly
visits from a community mentor.
The
Need:
Every 14 seconds, a child in sub-Saharan Africa loses a parent
to AIDS. Of the 11 million children in sub-Saharan Africa who
have lost one or both parents to AIDS, nearly two million are
under the age of five. It is estimated that 150,000 of those young
orphans live in Kenya. Poor rural communities are left to care
for these vulnerable children who would otherwise die or be left
on the streets to fend for themselves. Overburdened and poor caregivers,
usually grandmothers and other relatives, need additional support
to help raise healthy, happy children.
The
Project:
The Academy for Educational Development (AED) has launched the
AED Orphan Support Pack Project to provide the caregivers of children
under five orphaned by AIDS in Kenya with urgently needed services
and care items.
Well known
among the international development community and less as a household
name, AED is one of the world's largest nonprofits with more than
250 programs serving people in 130 countries and in all 50 U.S.
states.
The Orphan Support Pack is the newest initiative of AED's Change
Through Children campaign, which is working to break the cycle
of poor health and nutrition and inadequate education affecting
millions of children in developing countries.
The pack includes
a prepaid card good for full immunizations, as well as preschool
fees, weekly home visits by a trained community mentor and a caregiver
support group for one year. Other items contained in the pack
are a cup and bowl, a washcloth and soap, a blanket, a ball, a
notebook, pencil and crayons, and an insecticide-treated bednet.
"Very few programs exist to meet the health, nutrition, education
and emotional needs of these vulnerable children," said AED President
Stephen F. Moseley. "The AED Orphan Support Pack expands a very
successful pilot program, so more children and their caregivers
can get the support they desperately need."
AED is mounting a campaign to initially raise funds to provide
Orphan Support Packs to 1,000 children in Kenya over the next
two years. The packs will be assembled in Kenya to support the
local economy. Distribution of the first packs will take place
when sufficient funds are raised to cover orphans in entire villages.
How the Orphan Support
Pack Can Help:
If we meet our initial
$100,000 goal, the AED Orphan Support
Pack will enroll 1,000 more children in the successful AED project
in Kenya's Western province that is one the very few that supports
young orphans and their caregivers. In its three years of operation,
this project, Speak for the Child, has significantly improved
the lives of 356 young orphans, yielding impressive results:
- Immunization:
95% of enrolled children are now fully immunized.
- Education:
94% of eligible children are now enrolled in preschool.
- Nutrition:
59% of caregivers are now combining foods to improve children's
diets.
- Verbal
interactions: 57% of caregivers are now talking to
the children, telling stories, trying to talk in a gentle manner,
trying to listen more.
- Stimulation:
49% of caregivers are now spending more time with the young
children, providing play materials, encouraging them to socialize.
- Night
terrors: 49% of caregivers now understand and allay
young children's fears by explaining death and parents' absence
and reassuring children about fears of abandonment.
You can help
more young orphans in Kenya get their shots, go to school and
get the care and support they need to thrive. Donate
Today.
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