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Grace* was dangerously ill from an HIV-related illness and had to admit herself to hospital. She placed her baby daughter Hannah, who is not HIV positive, into the care of a neighbour. When the neighbour was unable to look after her any longer, Hannah was taken to iThemba Lethu.
iThemba Lethu is a communal home-based care facility in Durban, South Africa, for children orphaned or abandoned due to HIV/AIDS and poverty. When Hannah arrived she was extremely dehydrated from having had diarrhoea for two weeks. She was fed donated breast milk and quickly recovered her strength.
Image credit: World News Network/IRIN/iThemba Lethu
The social worker at the home assessed her situation and decided to facilitate a reunification for Hannah and her mother. Hannah is now living closer to her mother and other family members, allowing for frequent visits.
This is just one example of the kind of work done through the family integration project at iThemba Lethu. It is different from other institutions or orphanages, as it seeks to provide individual and quality care that is tailored to bring about the best possible long term outcome for every child.
It is a relatively small home as it usually cares for about twenty babies or children a year. It is also different because it considers itself to only be a ‘transitional’, or temporary solution while a more permanent one, such as family reunification or a fostering arrangement, is sought.
iThemba Lethu’s qualified social worker assesses on an individual basis what the best possible situation is for each child brought to the care of the transitional home. Their policy is to only seek an adoptive family once all attempts to reunify the child with their biological family have failed.
The home also runs a Breast Milk Bank, through which breast milk is donated for the babies in care. The proven health benefits of breast milk are especially important for these children, who are often ill through poverty or HIV/AIDS.
International Needs began supporting the community strengthening work of the family integration project at iThembu Lethu in 2008. ----------
HIV/AIDS in South Africa
Currently in South Africa 18.1% of the population (5.7 million people) is HIV positive or have AIDS. In 2007, there were 350,000 adult and child AIDS-related deaths and 1.4 million children were orphaned due to AIDS.**
HIV/AIDS – a global epidemic
HIV/AIDS is a global epidemic. UNAIDS reported in 2008 that, although the number of new HIV infections and deaths from AIDS has reduced, the epidemic is not over anywhere in the world.
Currently there is an estimated 33 million people with HIV worldwide. In 2007 there were 2.7 new HIV infections and 2.0 million AIDS related deaths. There are nearly 7,500 new infections every day. ***
One of the Millennium Development Goals is to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. The specific targets are to have halted and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015 and achieve universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all who need it by 2010.
Image credit: www.telegraph.co.uk
* Real names have been changed.
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