who we work with
Emerging
In 2003, ASAP identified emerging community-based organizations in the Eastern Cape, Kwa Zulu Natal, Qwa Qwa and the townships of Cape Town, South Africa as its pioneer beneficiaries for long term, scaled up funding. These were voluntary groups of women who had organized themselves as Home based carers or informal playgroups to address the HIV/AIDS crisis impacting orphans and vulnerable children in their communities. They had limited administrative systems and no organizational infrastructure in place and no experience with international funding practices. Their priority was registering the children in school followed by their solution of vegetable gardens. Organic gardening training was rolled out from Food and Trees for Africa (FTFA) to provide sustainable food security for orphans and vulnerable children.
Developing
Working closely with the community-based organizations and allowing them to develop their own models of care ASAP implemented small incremental long-term grants to expand their services and extend their outreach while implementing the training programmes they needed for their organizations’ growth and development. ASAP has taken groups from having no systems for tracking orphans to maintaining comprehensive computer databases on children accessing services. By monitoring children in drop-in centres, at home and in schools, we continue to assess the effects of community based intervention for orphans and vulnerable children. This practical experience has helped to formulate and refine the ASAP Model.
Maturing
The goal of ASAP’s intervention is for groups to become 100% accountable, well-governed, sustainable community-based organizations capable of acquiring and managing large-scale funding while forming strategic partnerships with government and other non-government agencies. Over the last 5 years, the women in the organizations have registered over 2000 OVC in school, who would otherwise not have received an education. The National Association of Child and Care Workers training (NACCW) has equipped them with skills to intervene in the lives of vulnerable children. The projects are consistently increasing their capacity to deliver holistic child care to the majority of orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS in their communities.
