Orphans and Vulnerable Children - CRIN

What Psychosocial Support is Being Provided to OVC?

In this activity, you will:

 Help participants identify what psychosocial support is being provided to OVC

Facilitator’s notes:

In this activity, you will lead participants through a process to research and identify what

different groups or bodies are doing to provide psychosocial support to orphans

and vulnerable children in their community. Once they have done this, they will

explore how existing structures that help OVC in material support in their community

could be encouraged to take on this more comprehensive role if they potentially have the

resources.

For this activity you will need:

 Flipchart and markers

To facilitate this activity:

1 Divide the participants into groups. Ask them to brainstorm all the psychosocial

support avenues that orphans and vulnerable children may have in their local communities.

For example, these may be existing caregiver and guardian structures who give counselling

to distressed children.

2 After a few minutes, get groups to share their lists of existing psychosocial support providers

in the community. You can write these points up on the flipchart.

3 Then ask groups to consider whether these support providers are adequate for the needs

of the orphans and vulnerable children in their community and CCC. If not, groups should think

about what other existing structures in their community could help to take on this important

role. For example, there may be potential services at a local clinic, or teachers who understand

children well.

4 When groups are ready, get them to share their lists of potential psychosocial support

providers in the community. You can also write these points up on the flipchart.

Then discuss with the participants that much of this module will deal with home visitors

gaining the understanding and skills to be able to offer psychosocial support to vulnerable

children themselves.

Activity 2

30 minutes

(^158) Unit 2, Module 2 Guide to Mobilising and Strengthening Community-Led Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children