ACTIVITY HAS BEEN MODIFIED IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:

Noah (Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity) proposes to increase the number of funded Arks through

PEPFAR from the original COP 08 number of 35 to 40 for FY 2009. An additional 28 Arks were incorporated

into PEPFAR funding from May 2008 to September 2008 to boost their establishment process. These

additional 28 sites offer basic activities to Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), of which a large portion

is nutritional support. Alternative donors able to support the full operating costs for the 28 Arks are being

sourced.

Thus, in order to concentrate on delivery of quality care to OVC across the PEPFAR priority areas and in

line with the Noah strategy of graduating Arks, the number of PEPFAR-funded Arks is proposed at 40 for

October 2008-September 2009. These 40 Arks are selected based on major achievements, successes and

challenges. In this way, PEPFAR funding will be matched with the Arks' operational capacity to more

effective mobilize and develop the Ark towards graduation.

ACTIVITY 1: Local Organization Capacity Building

While Noah will continue to support community mobilization in all 40 proposed PEPFAR-funded sites for FY

2009, primary emphasis will be placed on the quality of the service delivery at these Arks through effective

implementation of the Noah model. This will enable Arks to become self-governing and to graduate into

independent local CBOs. Thus, the activity will include more advanced capacity development activities to

the Arks and their communities; to achieve compliance with government regulations and health and safety

acts at Resource centers; securing local Non-Profit Organization (NPO) status as well as local fundraising

and public-private partnerships (PPPs). These activities are deemed necessary to prepare the Arks to enter

a graduation program to move towards independence as soon as measurable deliverables are attained.

ACTIVITY 2: Human Capacity Development

The changing demographic profile and needs of Noah volunteers has necessitated further training. So in

addition to Bereavement Counseling and technical training in how to access social welfare benefits for the

children, volunteers will be trained on how to establish and run peer support and debriefing groups to

address secondary trauma and provide stress management skills.

In addition to the current volunteer training modules, volunteers will be trained on basic counseling and

interviewing skills, parental guidance, identification of child protection issues and how to appropriately refer

and follow up cases where children have been referred to relevant service providers as well as training on

gender sensitization issues.

ACTIVITY 3: Care and Support

Noah believes that if children are provided with appropriate treatment, care and support, this can facilitate

the process of reversing the effects of deprivation as well as supporting the development of the child's

potential. An OVC Activities Department was established in January 2007 to implement a holistic age

appropriate targeted program of care and support. Therefore, in addition to the current Early Childhood

Development (ECD) training provided by external service providers, ECD training will now be rolled out

through the OVC Activities Department as well as ECD curricula being integrated into the existing Clamber

Club program for 2-6 year olds.

Furthermore, educational activities rolled out to the Arks will be expanded to include age appropriate life-

skills programs and peer education. While gender equity is integrated across all Noah programs, children in

this age group will be targeted to engage in gender equity promoting activities. Youth-headed households

will also receive training in parental guidance in addition to basic life-skills training.

-------------------------

SUMMARY:

Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity (NOAH) mobilizes communities form networks of care called

"Arks", which provide a range of services to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) including: nutritious

meals; educational activities including HIV prevention messages; regular home visits; assistance in birth

registration and accessing government social security grants; psychosocial support and training in the

establishment of food gardens. Through effective implementation of the NOAH model, with continued

emphasis on sustainability and capacity building NOAH plans to capacitate community OVC programs

(Arks) to become self-governing and to graduate into independent local CBOs. Emphasis areas for NOAH

are Local Organization Capacity Building, and Human Capacity Development (Pre- and In-service training).

The target populations for NOAH activities are orphans and vulnerable children.

BACKGROUND:

NOAH was established in 2000, and began receiving PEPFAR funding in 2004. With PEPFAR support,

NOAH has registered over 20,000 children and provided over 10,000 children with direct comprehensive

care throughout Gauteng, one community in the North West, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. NOAH is

currently active in 112 communities nationally, of which 35 are supported by PEPFAR. With FY 2008

funding, NOAH will strengthen the NOAH model through retraining committees, volunteers and resource

center staff. Additional resources will be directed towards development and capacity building in order to

capacitate communities to manage and sustain Arks as independent CBOs.

ACTIVITY 1: Local Organization Capacity Building

NOAH focuses on community mobilization and participation to develop community networks, or Arks, to

support OVC affected by HIV and AIDS. Mobilization is initiated through an interactive process which allows

communities to identify and evaluate themselves to determine whether the NOAH model will work for them.

Activity Narrative: Subsequently, through the establishment and training of NOAH committees (which target all major

stakeholders in the community: private sector, community, religious and local government leaders) and a

group of volunteers, OVC are identified and provided with services. The committee oversees the general

activities of the volunteers and is involved in fundraising and building relationships with local government

offices and surrounding schools to sustain the program. The staff of the Ark is accountable to the committee

and to NOAH headquarters and manages the day to day running of the Ark, including caring for the OVC. In

many Arks the committee has successfully secured material and monetary donations from local businesses

through public-private partnerships (PPPs), in other Arks schools have donated classrooms, resources and

teacher-time. All Arks are encouraged to build relationships with the local Department of Social

Development (DOSD). With FY 2008 funding, NOAH will continue to support community mobilization in all

35 existing NOAH sites.

ACTIVITY 2: Human Capacity Development

NOAH training builds volunteers, Ark staff and committee members' skills to identify and register OVC and

conduct home visits to monitor their progress and link them to appropriate government social services (e.g.

Department of Home Affairs for issuing of birth certificates and Department of Social Development for child

support grants). The training provided for volunteers includes Bereavement Counseling as well as technical

training in how to access social welfare benefits for the children. For committee members, training includes

Financial Management, governance, leadership, management and sustainability training. Nutritional

counseling on how to provide healthy and balanced meals in a resource scarce environment, and

accredited Early Childhood Development (ECD) training from Ntataise Trust (a partner NGO, registered on

the National Qualifications Framework) for Ark staff members at resource centers is also provided. NOAH

will continue to provide psychosocial support to OVC through training volunteers in Play Therapy and

counseling techniques, and by partnering with organizations such as GoLD (another PEPFAR partner) in at

least four PEPFAR Arks, two existing and two new ones in FY 2008, to provide peer counseling training on

HIV and AIDS at secondary school level (over 13 years). Food security and nutritional support of OVC and

volunteers is achieved through permaculture training and the subsequent establishment and maintenance

of vegetable gardens.

Quality Assurance and supportive supervision is delivered through monthly meetings with NOAH staff in

each region. This allows NOAH Ark Managers and community leaders to share successes and challenges

and to come up with innovative solutions to solve the problems specific to their communities. Monitoring and

evaluation (M&E) systems at community level are strengthened through ongoing training and data quality is

improved through immediate verification of all numbers reported. Ark staff are trained in all of the skills they

need for effective and cost efficient management of the Ark. Each Ark is responsible for its own budget and

financial management and for reporting and its own Information Management System. All training is geared

toward capacitating the Ark to be able to run independently and includes Financial Management, Computer

Literacy, Fundraising, Project Management and Governance.

ACTIVITY 3: Care and Support

Through community, school and other donor-support, NOAH establishes, staffs and supports resource

centers, satellite offices and satellite feeding schemes in 35 PEPFAR Arks. NOAH resource centers, apart

from being safe havens where children can interact with each other and with adults in a supportive

environment, also provide daily nutritious meals, access to educational support including ECD for young

children and schoolwork support for older children, computer rooms and libraries, and opportunities to

assess and monitor children's general health on a daily basis. Wherever children are identified as in need of

healthcare they are referred to appropriate facilities and provided with ongoing follow-up and care. Parents,

volunteers, children and teachers are actively involved in the maintenance and day to day activities of the

center. All Resource Centers which operate daycare or crche facilities are manned by staff trained in

Ntataise's intensive 3-week course on ECD. PEPFAR supports the day-to-day costs of the 35 centers such

as staffing and materials and supplies (books, pencils, etc.). PEPFAR does not fund any construction of

new Arks.

Outside of the Resource Center structures children's health and wellbeing is monitored through monthly

home visits provided by Ark volunteers focusing on family-centered care. The home visit provides an

opportunity for volunteers to work with parents to apply for birth certificates and social welfare grants for

OVC as well as to assess the child's health, school performance and psychosocial wellbeing. All volunteers

are trained in bereavement counseling and play therapy techniques to enable them to interact with the child

and provide immediate psychosocial support wherever necessary. If the child is identified as being unwell

they are referred to a nearby clinic.

In the interests of gender equality, NOAH actively monitors the number of girls and boys receiving services

at Resource Centers. In most Arks there are an equal number of boys and girls attending the center and

receiving services. Wherever discrepancies are noted Ark staff addresses imbalances through home visits

and additional follow-ups. Two of the PEPFAR Arks (one in Gauteng and one in KZN) provide programs

specifically for adolescent girls and in these cases there are usually more girl children attending centers

than boy children, though there is no gender discrimination in service provision. In addition, NOAH

volunteers and staff identify sick children and caregivers and facilitate referrals to the nearest hospital or

clinic for health assessment and where necessary HIV counseling, testing and ARV treatment. These

referrals are recorded, with an average of 75 children referred to clinics each month within PEPFAR Arks.

HIV Prevention is provided through a partnership with GoLD Peer Education program which will be

implementing programs in at least two additional PEPFAR Arks in FY 2008. NOAH has PPP with some

companies that have provided material/resource support in the form of school uniforms and/or food; others

offer the time of their employees to work with an Ark, its personnel and children.

Relationships with the South African Government (SAG) have been developed at the local, provincial and

national levels. NOAH partners with the Department of Social Development (DOSD) and Education (DOE),

to capacitate communities to access government funds and assistance. Local government representatives

Activity Narrative: are active members of Ark committees. Close relationships with local social workers are fostered and

encouraged. Seven NOAH Arks of the total 112 active Noah Arks are currently funded by the Department of

Social Development with further funding provisionally allocated to more Arks. NOAH has partnered with the

DOE in KwaZulu-Natal to provide long term sustainable support by integrating the Ark model into schools.

NOAH advocates for stipends for volunteers through the Department's Expanded Public Works Program

which aims to advance rural communities both socially and economically by involving them in government-

run programs. To date four PEPFAR Arks are accessing EPWP stipends for NOAH volunteers. NOAH is a

founding member of the National Action Plan for Children Affected by HIV and AIDS and has been

instrumental in policy development through this structure.

New/Continuing Activity: Continuing Activity

Continuing Activity: 14251

Continued Associated Activity Information

Activity Activity ID USG Agency Prime Partner Mechanism Mechanism ID Mechanism Planned Funds

System ID System ID

14251 3052.08 U.S. Agency for Nurturing Orphans 6754 504.08 $1,998,200

International of AIDS for

Development Humanity, South

Africa

7591 3052.07 U.S. Agency for Nurturing Orphans 4479 504.07 $2,060,000

International of AIDS for

Development Humanity, South

Africa

3052 3052.06 U.S. Agency for Nurturing Orphans 2684 504.06 $1,560,000

International of AIDS for

Development Humanity, South

Africa

Emphasis Areas

Gender

* Increasing gender equity in HIV/AIDS programs

Health-related Wraparound Programs

* Child Survival Activities

Human Capacity Development

Estimated amount of funding that is planned for Human Capacity Development $679,918

Public Health Evaluation

Food and Nutrition: Policy, Tools, and Service Delivery

Food and Nutrition: Commodities

Estimated amount of funding that is planned for Food and Nutrition: Commodities $34,219

Economic Strengthening

Education

Water

Table 3.3.13: