Os brazos do Irmao (A Brother’s Arms)

Problem Addressed:The reality here is that due to various factors (HIV and AIDS being a huge part of it) many parents have been dying one after the other and leaving children on their own to take care of themselves and their siblings. Some children are lucky enough to have family to take them in, but others instead end up running their own households and trying to make ends meet to provide for their younger brothers and sisters.

Resources Already Available: There are a few organizations in Maxixe, but Mahlahle (‘Ma’-guttural ‘k’- ‘lah’- guttural ‘k’-‘leh’) stands out from the rest with its steady supply of resources as well as effectiveness within the community. Mahlahle (the meaning in Bitonga I forget) provides basic support for orphans medically and educationally with their funding. From time to time, there is also enough to provide food.

What my Project Hopes To Accomplish:
In my mind, the role of the parent includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the following… She or he:
1) provides food, shelter and clothing, 2) provides emotional support 3) instills values and 4) passes on knowledge and experience that children can use in order to create successful futures for themselves

The way I see it, if a child does not have parents or a responsible guardian, there is much more than just healthcare and education that he or she will need. While Mahlahle provides the first role to an extent, there is still lacking in the other three. Therefore, my hope is to create a new program which addresses a few of these points to the best of our ability. The idea is that while we can never hope to replace the parents, we can provide mentoring, friendship, and role models for them to aspire to… kind of like a big sister or brother.


How:My hope, which is actually pinnacle if something like this is going to work, is to get the local university involved. Sagrada Familia is a Catholic University with a campus ministry program that is just itching to broaden its horizons. I have already talked to the Deacon, who works within Campus Ministry, as well as the head Campus Minister himself, and they seem to be quite interested in the idea.

My thought is that if I were to go through them, they can assist my projects in a number of ways. First, the can provide space in the gym and the classroom for games, short lessons, and activities that we do in large group sessions. Second, they can provide students who would work for no money and would do the job well because they would actually want to be there. Third, it would be sustainable as the more I get the University office involved and the more I get competent and caring students involved, the less that they would need me there to delegate.

Funding: Peace Corps Vast Grant (TBD)

Specific Roles of Volunteers and the Outline of the Program:

1. Individual Visits to the Child headed households once a week
• Helping with Homework
• Playing for a while
• Help monitor Cooking habits and diet
• Getting to know the youth

2. Assist in Group Activities (Weekly Social Events in a Youth Group-esque format)
• Sporting Matches- Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball
• Basic Games and Activities
• Short sessions on whatever topic for the leaders of household and others kids interested: gender, self respect, professionalism, cooking healthily, HIV prevention etc.

What I Am Doing to Start/ Possible Hiccups:

Familiarizing myself with Mahlahle as well as the children they work with is key. Since I have to work in various neighborhoods with the permission of local leaders and since I am hoping to work with children, face recognition is especially important in order to gain their trust. If I show up with Mahlahle on a few day to day visits, then I can legitimize my presence in this side of the community.

One issue with this is that my office and Mahlahle are apparently… ahem… ‘professional rivals.’ They generally do not like to intermingle on projects for some reason, which has the potential to complicate things. So… worse case scenario I can either a) utilize the Catholic Church and visit local leaders to share my intentions directly and/or b) go through another less effective, but generally respected association on the other side of town. Time will tell...