One FXB-Village in Operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
Bringing health, education, and stability to children left behind by poverty and AIDS
Backgroud: DR Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), located in central Africa, is one of the largest countries on the continent. The DRC has a population of approximately 64.7 million people. 71% of people in the DRC live below the poverty line, and 1 million people are currently living with HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that 1,000 people are dying each day from war-related causes including disease, violence, and hunger.
Source: UNICEF, IRC, World Bank 2009
FXB in the DRC
In 2009, FXB expanded its Village program model into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. FXB’s expertise in working with war-torn, impoverished, and AIDS-affected populations is particularly valuable after successful ventures in neighboring Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi.
Our activities in the DRC focus on providing direct and comprehensive support to children and families hit hardest by poverty and AIDS through our signature program, the FXB-Villages. The first FXB-Village in the DRC launched in Goma in October 2009. Each FXB-Village provides 100 families with a basic package of health, education, psychosocial and income-generation services. Each Village is designed to last for three years, with scaled down costs each year, since the basic material for the Income-Generating Activities (IGAs) is provided at the beginning of the program, and families become increasingly self-sufficient and more capable of managing their own nutritional, medical and schooling costs each year. Staff for each Village includes one nurse counselor, one social worker and one logistician.
Strategies:
FXB operations in this country are supported, through financial or in-kind donations, by:
Bringing health, education, and stability to children left behind by poverty and AIDS
|
|||||||||
Backgroud: DR Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), located in central Africa, is one of the largest countries on the continent. The DRC has a population of approximately 64.7 million people. 71% of people in the DRC live below the poverty line, and 1 million people are currently living with HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that 1,000 people are dying each day from war-related causes including disease, violence, and hunger.
Source: UNICEF, IRC, World Bank 2009
FXB in the DRC
In 2009, FXB expanded its Village program model into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. FXB’s expertise in working with war-torn, impoverished, and AIDS-affected populations is particularly valuable after successful ventures in neighboring Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi.
Our activities in the DRC focus on providing direct and comprehensive support to children and families hit hardest by poverty and AIDS through our signature program, the FXB-Villages. The first FXB-Village in the DRC launched in Goma in October 2009. Each FXB-Village provides 100 families with a basic package of health, education, psychosocial and income-generation services. Each Village is designed to last for three years, with scaled down costs each year, since the basic material for the Income-Generating Activities (IGAs) is provided at the beginning of the program, and families become increasingly self-sufficient and more capable of managing their own nutritional, medical and schooling costs each year. Staff for each Village includes one nurse counselor, one social worker and one logistician.
Strategies:
- Develop IGAs for destitute families.
- Help beneficiaries develop a skill through vocational training.
- Provide beneficiaries with basic medical care for the treatment of AIDS-related opportunistic infections.
- Provide beneficiaries with psychosocial support to help them cope with illness, and to deal with stigmatization and discrimination.
- Provide educational support for children to pursue their education at the primary and secondary levels. FXB covers the costs of school fees and material.
- Advocate for and protect children’s rights in collaboration with local leaders and volunteers. FXB handles reported cases of child abuse and where necessary refers them to appropriate institutions for further management.
- Sensitize beneficiaries to issues pertaining to HIV prevention, the Rights of the Child, environmental protection, hygiene and sustainable development.
- Empower youth by imparting HIV-related information and encouraging them to become peer-educators, thereby actively contributing to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
- Create support groups through which beneficiaries will be encouraged to help each other and manage collective activities.
- Plus de 85% des bénéficiaires du "Village-FXB" atteignent une entière autonomie financière à la fin du programme.
FXB operations in this country are supported, through financial or in-kind donations, by:
- King Baudouin Foundation
- Swim for Life, Brussels, Belgium