The document discusses the plight of orphaned and vulnerable youth in Botswana due to HIV/AIDS. It notes that over 1 in 5 children in Botswana are orphans and many have lost parents to HIV/AIDS. These youth often must take on adult responsibilities like caring for siblings and working to support their families. While the UN and some organizations aim to help with services, more focus is needed on adolescents who have unique needs beyond just basic support. The Stepping Stones International initiative provides after school programs, education, and support to empower youth in Botswana.

1. Orphaned and Vulnerable Youth Examining the Catastrophe in Botswana

2. Content Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) overview Current trends and statistics Current support for the OVC Stepping Stones International initiative Future goals/needs Bibliography Questions/Comments?!

3. OVC - Overview OVC are young people who have lost one or both parents In sub-Saharan Africa, the leading cause of OVC is HIV/AIDS Many orphans are themselves living with AIDS

4. “ I can’t emphasize strongly enough the extreme emotion turmoil of children orphaned by AIDS. What the world fails to recognize is that these children don’t become orphans when their parents die, they become orphans while their parents are dying, and this is especially true in the death of a mother.” - Stephen Lewis

5. OVC - Overview Orphaned youth often: Need to Care for siblings and chronically ill family Use any means necessary to support themselves and their families Suffer from poor nutrition, lack access to health care, miss school and face psychological and emotional difficulties

6. Current Trends and Statistics One in five children in Botswana are orphans The number of AIDS orphans is soaring – by 2003, 14 million children under age 15 had lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS An estimated 106 million children under 15 are projected to have lost one or both parents by 2010 – a quarter of this group orphaned due to AIDS Extended family was once reassuring for OVC, however it, too, is falling apart because of AIDS. Child-headed and sibling families are becoming more and more popular

7. “ -that’s what’s happening right across the continent: the transfer of love and knowledge and values and experience from one generation to the next is gone, and with it goes the confidence and security and sense of place which children normally take for granted. Children, already traumatized by the death of their parents, are left reeling as they confront the void in the aftermath.” – Stephen Lewis

8. Current Trends and Statistics The UN has adopted the following framework to address the needs of OVC Strengthen families by prolonging the lives of parents and providing economic, psychosocial and other support Strengthen community-based responses to provide support to vulnerable households Ensure access to essential services for OVC Improve policy and legislation to protect OVC Raise awareness

9. Current Support for OVC Despite the demographics, most programs do not focus on the needs of adolescents; more than 50% of OVCs are aged 12-17 Orphaned adolescents lose those positive influences related to sexual behaviour, alcohol and drug abuse, violence, etc, yet most OVC programs do not focus on these elements The services needed for adolescents who are orphaned go beyond housing and food

10. That’s UN-speak for saying, “You’ve failed lamentably: for God’s sake get your act together.” – Stephen Lewis

11. Current Support for OVC Programs need to include: Strategies for Education Livelihood Training Reproductive Health and HIV Education Psychosocial Needs

12. Stepping Stone International (SSI) Founded by Styn and Lisa Jamu to provide: An after school program Behaviour-changing curricula Classes and activities to meet spiritual needs Boost self-esteem Mission Statement: “ To empower youth to become leaders of the next generation by nurturing their mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing” Vision: “ To motivate 75 percent of the orphan center’s participants to either continue education or obtain employment by the age of 18, Stepping Stones offers hope to young people who, due to no fault of their own, are starting their adult lives with virtually nothing” Stepping Stones International eventually hopes to expand to Tanzania and other African countries where those ages 12-18 are most likely to fall through the social services cracks

13. Future Goals / Needs Support needs to be driven by the UN to national governments for effective programs that focus more attention on the needs of adolescents International community is lagging in developing models/strategies/approaches to use

14. “ Nothing in historical experience has prepared us for two generations of children rendered desperate, lonely, sad and bewildered by sheer circumstance.” - Stephen Lewis

15. Bibliography Ferreira, Kathy – Sponsorship Update from Francistown http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/botswana-update.htm Lee, Barbara Stinson – ‘Stepping Stones’ helps AIDS orphans http://www.judgememorial.com/documents/steppingStones.pdf Lewis, Stephen – Race Against Time, CBC Massey Lectures Ruland, Claudia Daileader, et al – Adolescents: Orphaned and Vulnerable in the Time of HIV/AIDS http://www.fhi.org/NR/rdonlyres/ewps7bhbybdcrne4m3sfxvwrj57l5nflni2w2jfysko3pkgisuksmumfee3rsngidgn5vuoh6hsl3d/YI6.pdf http://www.fhi.org/NR/rdonlyres/elfya62j3eyc5uax6e3kvqyfnunesbm36ynbtzggk2drnutmz5eyzopaihrwg6eov4qyoc3ko6vqio/YL18e.pdf

16. QUESTIONS / COMMENTS?!