I work at Action Hope Support Organization(AHOSO), in Rural Zomba, south of Zomba Town
With a couple different tasks over the next few months, I have been assigned to the OVC program. Orphanages or any formalized foster system do not exist here. Instead, the goal is to keep orphans and vulnerable children in the community. The previous intern was able to survey and document OVCs in 29 of the surrounding villages and I have now created a database with the information for 485 children. However, vulnerable children are difficult to document given the applicability of the term. What we do know from the documented orphans (in child headed households and living with other family) is that there is a wide spread problem of abuse and lack of basics such as soap, clothing, and multiple meals a day. Furthermore, although there are volunteers in each village responsible for programs, there is no policy or outline for monitoring OVCs and following up with issues such as school attendance.
With a couple different tasks over the next few months, I have been assigned to the OVC program. Orphanages or any formalized foster system do not exist here. Instead, the goal is to keep orphans and vulnerable children in the community. The previous intern was able to survey and document OVCs in 29 of the surrounding villages and I have now created a database with the information for 485 children. However, vulnerable children are difficult to document given the applicability of the term. What we do know from the documented orphans (in child headed households and living with other family) is that there is a wide spread problem of abuse and lack of basics such as soap, clothing, and multiple meals a day. Furthermore, although there are volunteers in each village responsible for programs, there is no policy or outline for monitoring OVCs and following up with issues such as school attendance.
Some of what I’m to work on
1. Breakdown data to distribute to each specific village, identifying areas of concern in the care of OVCs
2. Work towards creating a Village Based Coordinator(VBC) policy and monitoring outline with regular reports/checks
3. Help publicize the recent Child Rights Bill by organizing a meeting with 110 of the local AHOSO stakeholders (VBCs, teachers, village headman, faith leaders etc.)
4. Resource mobilization, identify potential at local and international levels
5. Increase local partnerships
6. Develop information package
7. Work on funding proposals with the Executive Director
That should keep me busy for awhile.
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