One quarter of the population in Zimbabwe is affected by HIV/AIDS and unfortunately, this is on the rise.

UNICEF estimates that one-fifth (1.3 million) of all children are orphans, largely because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  More than half of all new HIV/AIDS infections are among young people, primarily females. Due to severe droughts, diseases such as cholera have claimed thousands of lives, often leaving children without parents or primary caretakers.

SOS Children’s Villages have been working since 1983 to provide communities, educational opportunities and homes to the children of Zimbabwe who need a place to belong.

SOS Villages train women from all over the country to become ‘SOS Mothers’ to the children who have lost parents to HIV/AIDS or other afflictions.  These Mothers provide a home for groups of children, running each home independently, from cooking meals, to keeping house and maintianing discipline and order with the children. These houses, provided by SOS, offer emotional support and a sense of home and belonging to children who have lost their biological families.

The Mothers are given a budget dependant on the size of their family, and have assistance from other trained women, known as “SOS Aunt”.  It takes two years of training, both theoretical and practical to become an SOS Mother.  Classes cover a range of subjects such as therapy for trauma, nutritional science, child development and other practical subjects.

In Zimbabwe, up to 10 children live together in one house and there are enough houses presently to provide over 500 hundred orphaned children with homes and schooling.  Through the Family Strengthening Programmes, SOS provides clothing, medical and schooling fees, housing improvements and counselling services.  Overall they help up to 5000 children each year.  However, with the high number of children who need help, this number needs to grow in order to reach those most in need.

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