Last Monday we sat down with David Kase, National Director for Christ’s Hope International. Christ’s Hope is an up and coming organization with a unique and powerful model for meeting the needs of the OVC’s (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) produced by the AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa.
We had three questions for Dave:
GBD: Thanks for speaking with us today, Dave. I’ve a sense that your innovative model for addressing the problem of AIDS orphans might someday become the standard for how Christian NGO’s go about their work in this sector. Could you describe it for our readers?
Dave: I would be happy to… Basically, what we call Ministry Carepoints are established in areas where there are a high number of AIDS orphans. These Carepoints are carefully designed to make use of indigenous resources and networks to provide for and support family placement for OVC’s, instead of simply institutionalizing them. In this way, we can take a comprehensive approach to addressing the social, physical, educational, and spiritual needs of AIDS orphans. Ministry Partners are churches in the US who partner with us to provide ongoing support for vital programs, projects, and child sponsorships within these Carepoints. Where there are gaps between the funding needs of an established Carepoint and the funds that the Ministry Partners can provide, the gap is filled by our Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children fund, which depends upon individual donors like you.
GBD: I understand that Christ’s Hope originally subscribed to the traditional orphanage approach to serving OVC’s. What led you to create this new model? What advantages have you seen?
Dave: First, we realized that the traditional orphanage actually works to weaken the family structure. In Africa, extended families are often the norm. Where an orphanage is present, we found that the extended family is often motivated to send a deceased relative’s orphan to the orphanage because being terribly poor themselves, they know that the child will receive better care at the orphanage than they can provide. Our Carepoint model does the opposite: instead of weakening the family structure, it serves to actually preserve families – this has a huge impact, both on the child, and on the strength and cohesiveness of the community as a whole.
Second, as we moved to the Carepoint model, we found that we could facilitate care for OVC’s much more efficiently than under the traditional orphanage model. Under the traditional model, it took about $250/mo to provide for the needs of a single child. Under the Carepoint model, that cost drops to $45-$75/mo. This means that with the same budget, we can facilitate care – family care, which is by far superior – for many more orphaned children.
Third, we found that it was very difficult to reintegrate “graduates” of the traditional orphanage system into the culture – they had no family network, no friends, to help them find their way in life outside of the orphanage. Under the Carepoint model, these critical relationships are preserved and nurtured; these children enter their adult lives on an equal footing with their peers – ready and equipped to be committed and productive members of their communities. In fact, we have found that because of our intentional reliance upon indigenous staff, resources, and networks, the Carepoint model helps to build stronger communities overall – a key outcome of our model.
GBD: I get the picture… so what is the outlook for the future under your Carepoint model?
Dave: Very bright – exciting. Several points come to mind. As part of the family and community care that we facilitate under the Carepoint model, we have also educated over 250,000 children to be “CYCLE BREAKERS” – helping to prevent further spread of AIDS in these regions and lessening the future need for AIDS related OVC care. But, until that day arrives, we need to get better and better at what we do – and to this end, we have developed very comprehensive systems for monitoring and evaluating our work and the outcomes it produces. These systems will ensure that our programs continue to become more and more effective. The brightest spot in our future, though, comes from growing involvement on the part of local (indigenous) church networks, and the fact that our indigenous staff in Africa, already quite capable and talented, is really catching the overall vision, owning it as their own. And that, in my mind, is the best that a helping organization such as ours can hope for, because true transformation is sure to follow.
GBD: Thank you, Dave -- our readers will have a clearer understanding of why Christ’s Hope is one of our very favorite up and coming organizations...
Dave: My pleasure…
For more on Christ’s Hope International, see our review here... or visit their website at www.christshope.org
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