HOPEHIV supports children and young people in sub-Saharan Africa who have been orphaned or affected by HIV/AIDS. Living in poverty-stricken communities where a whole parental generation has been obliterated by AIDS, orphans and vulnerable children are often left to fend for themselves, many struggling with neglect and abuse, due to stigma, ignorance and poverty in the communities around them. Yet, based on experience over the last ten years, HOPEHIV believes that these young people have the determination and potential to become agents of transformation for their families, communities and nations.
Over the last seven years, DfDD has helped enable HOPEHIV to establish 27 strong partnerships with African organisations in seven countries that now support over 50,000 children and young people.
We see HOPE in Mary 
Mary, 15, lives with her dad and three siblings. Her mum passed away years ago. Before she joined the HOPEHIV funded Chikombola Youth Project in Zambia, Mary was in a desperate situation. She had been forced to leave school because she couldn’t afford the books. Safe ways for a 15 year old girl to earn a living in rural Chikombola are extremely limited. Mary describes the Project as a light in the darkness; it trained her in basic agriculture and business skills and gave her a cow and a goat as part of the animal pass-on programme. The milk helps feed Mary’s family and she sells the surplus to pay for school books. She has also helped with the community maize field which has recently been harvested successfully and will contribute to school fees for Mary and many other orphaned youth like her.
We see HOPE in Martin
Martin was five years old when he came to a HOPEHIV funded pre-school in Harare, Zimbabwe. Born with HIV, he was quickly also diagnosed with TB and found to be very sick. A home visit made by the teachers showed that his parents were slowly dying of advanced TB. Not only that, but when Martin was just three, he suffered severe burns. He’d faced more trauma in just five years than most of us do in a lifetime. When he first came to the school, he was extremely withdrawn, sitting silent in a corner and gazing into space. The volunteer teachers worked hard, providing nutritious food to increase his energy levels and giving him different toys and books to stimulate him as well as the company of other children his own age. In just six months, the change was incredible. He now plays freely with a beaming smile and interacts happily with other children.
Registered Charity No. 1079385