FHI Helps Namibia’s Churches Care for Children

JANUARY 2009 — Less than a decade since its founding, the Church Alliance for Orphans has grown to assist 180 community projects providing direct services to needy children throughout the country.

Great need spurs interfaith effort
In early 2001, four Namibian church activists got together with the dream that every religious congregation in the country would one day have a program for local orphans and vulnerable children in need of care and support. The need was dire: Namibia's rates of HIV infection ranked among the world's highest, with one Namibian child in three projected to become an orphan before the age of 18. The activists—from the Council of Churches in Namibia, the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCIN), the Anglican Church Bishop's Office, and Catholic AIDS Action—took an ecumenical approach that built on the strength of Namibia's churches as local meeting places for mutual support and information sharing, as well as for religious activities.

In 2002, with start-up funding from UNICEF and the Ford Foundation, the Church Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) was established as an interfaith networking organization to be housed at, and affiliated with, the Council of Churches in Namibia. Dr. Lucy Y. Steinitz, who headed Catholic AIDS Action and would later join FHI, was elected the first Chairperson of the Board. A Namibian clergyman with the Uniting Reform Church, Rev. Dr. Henry Platt, was appointed Director. FHI became involved with CAFO in 2004, through its USAID-funded IMPACT Project. A year later, the Community Faith-Based Regional Initiative for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children (FABRIC) added its support. UNICEF, the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and the American Jewish World Service provided supplementary services.

Participatory process, local leadership key
CAFO was formed with input from government, church, and community leaders, as well as civil society stakeholders from around the country. To maximize sustainability and remain community-based, the founders decided that local congregations and faith-based groups should receive training and assistance to implement care and support activities themselves. Concepts of coordination, local empowerment, sustainability, and holistic quality of care—all cornerstones of FHI's philosophy—permeated their discussions, which were unified around the vision that every child in Namibia should have the opportunity to fulfill his or her God-given potential.

Within a month of its inception, more than 464 congregations and faith-based groups had registered to become members of CAFO to receive training, technical assistance, and small incentive grants for after-school programs, early childhood education, soup kitchens, and income-generating activities targeted to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). Churches in larger communities banded together to form ecumenical CAFO committees—68 in total—to coordinate services, work closely with local government and business leaders, and ensure back-up and support. Soon these committees opened bank accounts and, once trained, their leaders volunteered to provide oversight, coordination, and quality assurance to the CAFO programs in their area.

Building local capacity to help children
FHI has helped CAFO achieve its aim of providing OVC in Namibia with a range of services, including supplemental nutrition and food, basic healthcare, provision of school uniforms, after-school activities, and education for caregivers about health issues including tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. FHI has also supported collaboration between CAFO and civil society organizations such as Light for the Children, located in the slums of Gobabis in Eastern Namibia. Four years ago, with only a few untrained volunteers and rudimentary facilities, Light for the Children was facing enormous obstacles: poverty, family illness, and lack of school attendance were persistent challenges. With help from CAFO, the organization has been able to fulfill its mission of preparing OVC to attend school and supporting them as they become successful students.

Reflecting FHI's commitment to capacity building as a way to support local ownership and sustainability, CAFO has also partnered with local communities. In the small town of Okahandja, the local CAFO committee helped a San (Bushmen) community transition from receiving food parcels from volunteers to maintaining their own vegetable garden. The committee consulted with a local farmer to assess the soil quality of an unused piece of land owned by the San, and then provided a training session to build the community's skills in growing and maintaining a garden. The committee helped the San purchase seeds and gardening equipment, and made regular visits to offer supervision and support. The community's vegetable garden now provides them with food both for themselves and to sell to other residents and tourists.

CAFO expertise recognized at national level and by USAID
With technical assistance from FHI, CAFO has been able to build its internal management systems, expand activities, and ensure quality of care. In 2005, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare asked CAFO staff to chair its Care and Support Committee under the national Permanent Task Force for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, as well as roll out CAFO's internal OVC database for use on a national level. CAFO's Small Grants Packet for subgrantees, which set the standard for decision making and monitoring and evaluation, has been translated and copied for Namibia and beyond. Its Journey of Life course and other training regimens have been shared with CAFO member groups and other organizations. And since 2005, CAFO has participated in the development of national quality assurance and improvement standards for the country, trained its staff and volunteers on quality assurance, and pioneered income-generating activities, collaborative learning exchanges, and peer-review processes for maximum impact and sustainability.

By 2006, CAFO had mobilized ecumenical committees and individual churches to offer direct-care services to children in all 13 regions of the country and had won one of USAID's first New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) grants. CAFO currently provides assistance to 180 local community projects in 75 communities. "We are grateful for the international recognition, support, and technical assistance granted to us, starting with FHI," says Rev. Dr. Platt. In 2008, CAFO transitioned to direct US government funding—in every way a success story.

—By Lucy Steinitz with CAFO staff.

PHOTOS: (Top) With educational support grants from the Community Faith-Based Regional Initiative for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children (FABRIC), children can receive the uniforms they need to attend school. (Center) "Light for the Children" learning centers teach youth how to read, and their families about health issues. (Bottom) The Okahandja CAFO Committee helped the local San (Bushmen) community establish a vegetable garden to meet their nutritional needs and earn extra income. (Lucy Steinitz, FHI/Namibia)