Orphans and Vulnerable Children - CRIN

For this activity you will need:

 Copies of Handouts 2a, 2b and 2c

 Flipchart and marker

To facilitate this activity:

1 In this activity, participants will imagine or think of a scenario in which many adults in their
community become sick with HIV/AIDS and eventually die. (Explain that this is a very realistic
scenario, given the trends of HIV/AIDS, as discussed in the previous topic.)

2 Divide participants into three groups. Ask them to think about the impact that this will have
on children, families and the community as a whole. They should think of ‘impact’ in terms of
economic effects, emotional effects and needs, physical, spiritual and social effects and needs,
and any other types of impacts.

3 One group will be assigned to discuss the effects of HIV/AIDS on children, the second group the
effects of HIV/AIDS on families, and the third group the effects of HIV/AIDS on the community
as a whole. Give them about 15 minutes for this discussion.

Some impacts of HIV/AIDS on communities:

• The labour pool is reduced, especially for agricultural and skilled labour


• Poverty increases


• Community infrastructure deteriorates


• Access to healthcare, adequate nutrition and education is reduced


• Mortality rates rise


• The community has fewer resources to marshal for mutual aid


• Communities suffer depression and a general loss of resilience


• Communities are less productive because members are spending most of their time in
  hospitals and caring for dying members of the community or family


• There is poor health among family and community members


• There are high poverty levels among families and communities due to spending all the
  resources trying to care for dying family members.

1 hour

Guide to Mobilising and Strengthening Community-Led Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Unit 2, Module 1^111