Community-Based Support for OVC Project: Our Impact

Forty-year-old Bridget Egesi has been the sole caretaker of her five children since her husband’s death in 2008. Until recently, Bridget pieced together an income by washing laundry, cleaning her neighbors’ cars, and working as a security guard.

By Obialunamma Onoh, Zipporah Kpamor, Ugboga Adaji,Benjamin Akinmoyeje, Hope Ohiembor, Irene Amadu, Steven Shadrack, and Tokara Kabati  HIV & AIDS impacts millions in sub-Saharan Africa, contributing to a steady growth in the population of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). In 2008, data from Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Women Affairs showed that 25 percent of Nigerian children were orphans or considered vulnerable due to unmet needs for nutrition, education, shelter, care, or support.

Twelve-year-old "Femi" from Ekiti State, Nigeria, was orphaned in 2010 and is now living with his grandmother. Because his grandmother has no reliable source of income, Femi works at his uncle’s car repair shop after school. He earns a small daily stipend, but it isn’t enough to pay for his school fees and supplies, so Femi often attends school in an old uniform and without the required materials. Looking untidy and malnourished, Femi often feels shy, has difficulty making friends, and struggles to concentrate on his school work.

In Nigeria, women and girls carry the bulk of the caregiving burden for those infected with HIV and children left vulnerable or orphaned by AIDS. These responsibilities often prevent girls and women from obtaining an education and developing income-generating skills. Compounding these problems are social norms that inhibit girls and women from accessing HIV & AIDS information and services and severely limit their control over their sexuality, thereby leaving them vulnerable to violence and abuse.