The Eastern Cape Province is the poorest in the country, and is ravaged by several communicable diseases like TB and HIV/AIDS. One important consequence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is an increase in the number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). Also, the King of Western Tembuland has expressed a strong commitment to establishing a large orphanage in the grounds of the Qamata Health Centre. This commitment will assist the partnership between all structures of local governance. The first catalytic project will therefore be in the Eastern Cape district of Chris Hani.

Main Goal

To support orphans and vulnerable children in Chris Hani District, Eastern Cape, as an entrance point for promoting development activities in the district, especially the control of impact and spread of HIV/AIDS and TB.

Specific Goals

	To sensitize communities to the problem of OVCs in the Intsika Yethu Local Service Area (LSA), Cofimvaba, situate in Chris Hani District.
	To develop and strengthen a partnerships between civil society (NGOs, Churches); government departments (social development, health, etc); and private sector.
	To quantify and map out the OVCs in the Intsika Yethu LSA, and record the results in a suitable database system.
	To build a small day care centre at the Qamata Clinic for OVCs that can access it; and also explore development of effective structures for supporting them close to where they are based, using suitable adults, and without separating siblings.
	To use the Project in Intsika Yethu to facilitate emergence of other projects within Chris Hani District, and also in other districts of the Eastern Cape. One example is to use the Project as an entrance point for prevention and control of HIV/AIDS and TB in Chris Hani district, Eastern Cape, and even South Africa.
	To establish a website in preparation for a launch and marketing of ILIMALETHU Development Association.

Strategies to achieve the objectives

We will recruit a national co-ordinator that will drive the project through:

	Establishing a small office of ILIMALETHU in Chris Hani district
	Recruiting a local co-ordinator and part-time secretary to run the office, and
	Facilitating various contractual services that will be needed for the project.

The most important contractual service, (from the point of view of sustainability), will be a participatory rural appraisal (PRA), which will aim to redefine the concept of “vulnerable children”, in the vocabulary and concepts of the community, and then quantify the problem using those parameters.

The other important activity will be exposure and training of community members and volunteers, as starting point for improving capacity for local development.

The estimated total budget will be 340 000 US Dollars, to be implemented over a period of three years, during which time more funding will be mobilized for HIV/AIDS related activities in the same district. A Project Committee will be established locally to supervise implementation as soon as funding has been confirmed.