Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)

HIV/AIDS affects children well before a parent dies.

Sometimes as young as eight, they are the sole carers of their parents and siblings, responsible for finding food and medication, collecting water and fire wood. They are frequently denied an education or access to their basic rights such as shelter, clothes, food, love and medication. They are often subjected to stigma and discrimination from their own communities and suffer from anxiety, fear and depression.

They are, in effect, their parents' parent.