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HIV & AIDS and Children
by Diane Marshall, Champion for HIV & AIDS Ministries
14 September 2009

In a recent visit to Zambia I was reminded of the freedom, personal respect, and resilience that comes when children and young people understand deeply that they are special and valuable. Loving parents and a caring community help children develop normally in all areas of life.

I invite you to think about how this might be fostered in our own environment. What resources have you found helpful to creatively teach and reinforce human worth especially among children? Here are a few thoughts to get you started:

BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS: HIV & AIDS AND CHILDREN

HIV & AIDS creates orphans and vulnerable children in overwhelming numbers. It strips parents of their dignity. It fractures families, destroying the hopes and dreams of individuals and communities. It exposes children to injustice and leaves them at risk of neglect and abuse. Against this backdrop, God reminds us that he has created all human beings in His image (Gen 1:26,27, 5:1,2). As Christopher Wright says in The Mission of God (pg 423), being made in the image of God forms the basis of radical equality of all human beings regardless of gender, ethnicity, or any form of social, economic, or political status. We should also include age and stage of life in this list. Children, including those impacted by HIV & AIDS, bear the image of God. Children, like adults, are "God aware" and capable of communicating with Him. They have equal worth in God's eyes and deserve to be treated by us with equality, dignity, and respect. But what does this look like in practice?

Those of us in positions of influence need to seriously wrestle with how best to foster an environment in which children affected by HIV & AIDS can thrive and maximize their God given potential. This can happen when we strengthen the capacity of families and communities to care for children; focus on all vulnerable children, not only those orphaned by HIV & AIDS; reduce stigma and discrimination; ensure access to education; support HIV prevention and awareness; provide psycho-social support including grief counselling; and strengthen the ability of caregivers and young people to earn livelihoods. These are all recognized good practices. As children, young people, and adults grasp the value of their worth before God, they find dignity and can face the future with hope. We take greater responsibility for our actions knowing that God delights in us, and wants us to flourish and thrive (Ps 139:14).

PLAY: IT COSTS ALMOST NOTHING

In the preface of It Costs Almost Nothing, Marybeth Gallagher and Marie Harlech-Jones write, "All children need to play. Play teaches children problem solving and coordination skills, as well as skills of communication and social interaction. Depending on the particular game, play can help children increase their knowledge of basic colours, words, logic, geography, and mathematics." All children deserve the same opportunities to play and learn, including children made vulnerable by HIV & AIDS. Educational games, handicrafts, and play teach them many skills needed in daily life.

It Costs Almost Nothing: Beneficial Indoor Games and Handicrafts from Rubbish and Recycled Materials (2007) is a collaborative effort produced in Namibia. Activities in this 148-page book promote the psycho-social well-being of children affected by HIV & AIDS and poverty as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce their vulnerability. The book is filled with photographs, illustrations and diagrams for easy use by teachers, volunteers, and caregivers in pre-schools, art classes, and after-school and home settings. As the title suggests, all the games and crafts in the book use throw-away and recycled materials commonly found in Southern Africa.

STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY-LED CHILD CARE

"Mobilizing and Strengthening Community-led Childcare Through Community Care Groups and Coalitions: A study from Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia," is published in the International NGO Journal Vol. 4 (1), Jan 2009. This is a study of World Vision’s Community Care Coalition (CCC), a foundational feature of World Vision’s model for mobilizing and strengthening community-led care for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), and chronically and terminally ill people. It reflects the views of over 700 respondents from 24 communities where World Vision has supported community-led child care initiatives. Important lessons learned include:

  1. Community-led child care established through strong community mobilization processes are sustainable mechanisms for enhanced child well being at the community level.
  2. The quality of care depends largely on the quality and frequency of home visits. Home visitors often have limited capacities in areas such as HIV & AIDS information, psychosocial care, local level service access advocacy, as well as child rights and protection. There is a need to enhance investment in training and strengthen the skill sets of home visitors.
  3. Organizational capacity building is an important step towards full ownership and sustainability. Stronger, well established community-led initiatives should mentor less established initiatives in the same geographical areas.
  4. Community-led child care initiatives should be seen as not "just" HIV & AIDS projects, but as the foundation for long-term sustained and community owned child care and support institutions.
  5. Children need to be seen by program and home visitors as active participants rather than simply beneficiaries.

Read the full article on this study

What are your thoughts?

Comment on this post: Email international.aids-consultant@sim.org
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