RFFA promotes the following three programmes at major conventions such as the Rotary International annual conventions. This year 2009 it will be held in Birmingham UK and a great programme of key note speakers has been planned including Archbishop Desmond Tutu from South Africa:
Archbishop Desmond Tutu at Birmingham
RFFA’s Orphan Rescue program provides funding for Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s school fees, school uniforms and supplies, mosquito net and sports equipment. This program was created in response to international Rotarians interest in helping the vulnerable children in Africa. A single donation of $450 (made through RFFA’s website) provides funds for one child for one year. The Orphan Rescue Kit is a crucial component of the assistance RFFA and international Rotarians bring to the HIV-Free Generation project. Every child returned to school becomes someone more aware of HIV and the risks the disease holds for their future. In turn, these children communicate these risks, and the benefits of voluntary HIV testing to their families, friends and the larger community. Educated, hopeful OVC who believe they have a future are “HIV Free’s” greatest advocates.
The need to scale up this program is huge!
RFFA’s Kidz Clubs are organized groups established for children and formed within the communities where OVC live. Meeting after school each week, Kidz Clubs allow children to participate in different activities offering practical coping strategies for many of the situations they might encounter. Kidz Clubs are facilitated by youth who live in the community and have been uniquely trained to facilitate and provide psychosocial support for these groups.
Kidz Clubs also provide opportunities to identify specific needs of individual children as well as addressing the community’s wider concerns. These children need proper health care practices, emotional support (coping with losses), self esteem building skills, nutrition, shelter, protection from abuse, education on the rights of a child (with referral network services), and economic empowerment training. These needs are addressed and services are provided within the Kidz Club structure. International Rotarians have been incorporating funding for Kidz Clubs along with the Orphan Rescue funds. Once again, the need to scale up this program is huge.
Finally, the one program that brings together all the services mentioned herein is Rotary’s Community Corps (RCC). RCC is composed of youth in a designated geographic area who believe “the solution to a community’s issues come from within” that community. An RCC has approximately 30 members (organized similarly to a regular Rotary Club). It is sponsored by a local Rotary Club, and the Rotarians mentor, train, and economically empower the RCC leaders. In coordination with the Rotary Clubs who sponsor an RCC, HOPE worldwide Kenya trains and mentors the RCC leaders in Kidz Club management, psychosocial support and basic counseling skills for children. The RCCs are engaged along with other community members/stakeholders that include the chief/sub chief, district children’s officer, community based organizations and church leaders, and other NGOs in the area. As RCC members continue to engage in community activities, a request will be made for those most active and qualified to obtain further training. This training will include instruction to become VCT counselors.
Building the capacity and abilities of RCCs in Nairobi enables local youth (RCC) to reach thousands of other youth, Orphans and Vulnerable Children, and their peer groups with the messages of HIV Free living!