Zimbabwe Camp Offers AIDS Orphans Desperately Needed Support

In Zimbabwe's remote southwestern district of Matobo, the Sikhethimpilo Center -- its name means "we choose life" -- helps children deal with losing their parents to AIDS. The center hosts weeklong camps during every school vacation; 240 volunteers spread across the district of 35,000 people to select the children most affected by AIDS. At the center, the children -- divided into groups of 10- to 12-year olds and 13- to 18-year-olds -- receive individual and group counseling and learn the facts about AIDS.

Some 1,800 orphans have been through the program since its 1998 launch as the brainchild of Sister Ludbirga, a Catholic nun. Close to 1 million children in Zimbabwe have lost one or both parents to AIDS.

Some of the campers nursed their dying parents; others learned only through schoolyard taunts that their parents had died of AIDS. It is traditional in the area that when a parent dies, children are taken elsewhere so they do not witness the funeral; instead, they are told their parents have moved to neighboring South Africa or Botswana. "Here we give the children the opportunity to express their emotions and how to deal with them," said Meck Sibanda, a camp organizer.

In their communities, many orphans are presumed to be HIV-infected and are ostracized. At the center, they find friends. "They hardly have friends back at their villages, so this is the place where they feel loved and it boosts their self-esteem," said Israel Nkomo, a youth coordinator.

Upon arrival, the children are asked to write and draw about themselves; many express sadness and anger. Dance, music and games are employed to teach them that they have the right to food, shelter, education and clothing.

After counseling, the older group -- many of whom are heads of households -- are taught such practical skills as housekeeping, gardening, small animal rearing, cooking and sewing.

After camp, children with special needs are referred to psychiatrists or the government's social welfare department. Follow-up visits are conducted to guard against abuse by neighbors or relations.

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