AIDS Orphans in Botswana

I visited two NGOs in Botswana working with Aids Orphans, both in the village of Molepolole, an hour from Gaborobe. Botswana is unique in terms of the way children orphaned by HIV are cared for. I was told that “traditional” orphanages are forbidden in Botswana: those where children are placed together in a home and looked after by care workers. I saw two models of care working in Botswana: the first where children live with relatives such as cousins or distant Aunts or Uncles, and are supported during the day at special centres; the second where children are placed in a small group with a surrogate mother in what is in effect their permanent home. This is in direct contrast to South Africa where NGOs are helping support child-headed households living without adult support in their own homes.

Bana Ba Keletso is a day centre for children orphaned by HIV, but living with distant relatives. The kids attend school classes at the centre, are provided with breakfast, mid-morning snack, and lunch, and receive emotional and spiritual support. When I visited, the 50 or so children were eating their breakfast of scrambled egg and toast, and I was amazed by the complete silence. The teacher told me that breakfast was late as there had been problems with the buses bringing the children to the centre, and that the silence was due to hunger! Lunch was being cooked in the kitchen – beef, vegetables and rice, and the smell was wonderful. There is a kitchen garden, and cabbages were being prepared for lunch too.

The children at Bana Ba Keletso looked well nourished. In Botswana children under five with HIV, or affected by HIV, receive monthly food baskets from the Government.

Hope International is another NGO based in Molepelole working to support children and teenagers with HIV. Hope concentrates on outreach work, and is striving to support difficult-to-reach and isolated groups, such as teenage boys working as cattle herders away from populated areas. Hope has employed a nutritionist, and is aiming to improve the nutritional status of these vulnerable children and young adults through both education and provision of food.