[Press Kit]

The Programme was
designed to strengthen
the communities'
capacity to address
the growing number
of orphans and to
create awareness about
the problems these
children face.

Chikankata Community-based
Orphan Support Programme
The Community-based Orphan
Support Programme (CBOSP) at
Chikankata Salvation Army Mission
Hospital is a pilot programme, started
in two communities in 1995 and
expanded in 1999 to include an additional three communities. Between
2,000 and 5,000 people live in each
community, most of them farmers.
Chikankata has been hit hard by
HIV/AIDS, although HIV rates are not
available because testing is not routinely done at the hospital. In 1999, there
were some 1,500 orphans registered in
the five project communities. A majority of those orphaned have lost both
parents and all their inheritance at the
same time because surviving relatives
quickly appropriate property. In most
cases, however, children are cared for
by their grandparents.
The Programme was designed to
strengthen the communities' capacity
to address the growing number of
orphans and to create awareness
about the problems these children
face. The Programme provides education and health services; facilitates
local income-generating projects; conducts HIV/AIDS prevention among
vulnerable children; and links up local
communities with agencies working
with orphans outside the community.
Organizational structure
The Community-based Orphan
Support Programme is one of several

programmes (Home-based Care,
Reproductive Health, Nutrition and
Growth Monitoring) run by the
Salvation Army Hospital.
The Chikankata Community
Health and Development Department
Team at the hospital provides technical
support and training for Care and
Prevention Teams (CPTs), made up
of community members, including
chiefs, farmers, teachers and businessmen. The teams are the focal points
for community responses to all
HIV/AIDS-related matters. CPTs
identify and care for those who are
infected with HIV; help mobilize
resources; coordinate activities with
local partners; and train community volunteers. The Health and
Development Department Team
makes regular visits to all communities to follow up on how they
are progressing.
In addition to CPTs, local Children
in Need (CHIN) committees were
also formed. These committees, established in the five communities where
the programme is being implemented,
consist of 24 members from different
sectors of the community, including
schoolteachers, community health
workers and village headmen. CHIN
committee members, known locally as
"caregivers;," are trained in community
education, advocating for children in
situations of child abuse, family
education and counselling. The CHIN
committees register orphans and
vulnerable children; conduct regular,