Contact: Bisola Ojikutu, MD, Program Director, United States
phone 617.384.9049
bisola_ojikutu@hms.harvard.edu
To improve the lives of children orphaned by AIDS and their caregivers by building local capacity to provide HIV care and treatment, addressing their psychosocial needs and building new, safe housing.
In 2005, Habitat for Humanity (HFH) began building homes for over 250 children orphaned by AIDS in KwaXimba, a poor, rural region of KwaZulu Natal province South Africa. In the same region, Harvard Medical School faculty were working with Valley Trust NGO, a local community development organization, to train doctors, nurses, and community health workers to care for children and caregivers at risk for, or infected with, HIV. To comprehensively and holistically address the needs of these children and their caregivers, Harvard, Valley Trust NGO and Habitat for Humanity joined forces to create the Umndeni Care Program (UCP).
To provide comprehensive medical care to families enrolled in the Habitat for Humanity AIDS Orphan Housing Program in the KwaXimba community, focused particularly on pediatric care and HIV treatment needs.
To build houses for children who have been orphaned and made vulnerable as a result of the AIDS pandemic
To promote and provide HIV counseling and testing and eliminate stigma through community based HIV education.
To build local healthcare capacity by training South African doctors, nurses, and community health workers.
With local community members, leverage each partner’s resources to create an effective, holistic approach to rural community development in South Africa.
UCP’s multi-sectoral partnership model enables us to reach vulnerable children and their caregivers who are underserved or missed by current AIDS care efforts. By leveraging the strengths and resources that each partner provides, UCP aims to capacitate local institutions and infrastructure to create a sustainable, scalable program – a program that can significantly contribute to increasing access to life-saving care for children orphaned by AIDS in rural South Africa and around the world.
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