ACTIVITY HAS BEEN MODIFIED IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:

FY 2009 activities will have a greater focus on reaching out-of-school youth, and encouraging these children

back to school. Emphasis will be placed on reaching the siblings of the in-school OVC that might be too old

or young to be in school. This group will include, for example, children under five years old and those who

have completed Matric (12th grade) and are neither pursuing further education nor employed.

Youth participation will also be an enhancement to the 2009 activities, as children who have been supported

through the project are now able to support younger children themselves, and have the confidence and self-

esteem to offer their own opinions on project activities - so enhancing the project model itself. The quality of

the project model will be further enhanced as constant monitoring and evaluation during 2008 will expose

any project challenges and gaps. Internal evaluation will allow Health and Development Africa (HDA) to

implement project improvements to overcome challenges faced in FY 2008, as well as build on those

activities that are proving successful. The refresher trainings that will take place in 2009 will strengthen the

knowledge and skills of the twelve facilitators, 18 Child Care Forums (CCFs) and 90 School-based support

Teams (SBSTs), which will ultimately improve the quality of service delivery.

HDA will conduct three types of training in FY 2009, which will be to refresh the knowledge and skills

transfer that took place during 2008 and highlight main issues that will be addressed in 2009, such as

gender equity and reaching out-of-school youth. The first training is for the project's six Circles of Support

Facilitators (COS) and Learner Facilitators, who are Lejweleputswa community members capacitated and

employed to train and guide the CCF members and SBSTs on how to identify and support OVC and ensure

they access quality health and social services. Training will also focus on improving the COS Facilitators

and Learner Facilitators' growing management and future leadership skills. All six COS Facilitators are paid

by the project and Learner Facilitators are Department of Education employees and are paid by the

department.

CCFs and SBSTs (18 and 90, respectively) will receive their own set of trainings. Their training will focus on

identifying OVC, developing an action plan to address the needs identified, establishing networks with

relevant stakeholders and monitoring and reporting. These will address their specific area of focus and skills

needs to support OVC, to establish links to health and social wraparound services, and to sustain this

support even once the project has exited the area.

A district workshop will be held with relevant stakeholders, who will include government departments, local

businesses, local NGOs and community stakeholders. The workshop participants will receive basic project-

based skills training to build up their capacity to also support the OVC beneficiaries in their own initiatives

and to network these initiatives. The objectives of the Circles of Support project are closely aligned to that of

South Africa's National Strategic Plan (NSP) 2007-2011. The project works towards all four Key Priority

Areas of the NSP.

The project will work with the South African Department of Health's Training Manual (Operational Plan for

comprehensive HIV and AIDS care, management and treatment for South Africa) and the OVC National

Plan of Action to adapt the COS training material to suit the South African and Free State contexts. Project

staff will work closely with the district Department of Social Development (DOSD), which will allow the

project to be closely aligned to the DOSD's Policy Framework on Orphans and Vulnerable Children and its

six key strategies.

A Gender Analysis Tool will be adapted at the start of the project from existing tools developed by other

OVC organizations. This adaptation also will be based heavily upon the gender issues identified by the

beneficiary communities. This tool will guide gender issues of the project. It will be managed by the M&E

officer. The M&E tools and procedures also will disaggregate data and M&E information according to all four

gender groups (men, women, girls, and boys).

Monitoring and Evaluation: The project's M&E officer and technical support will create and manage relevant

M&E tools and procedures whereby project staff record relevant information on how current OVC support in

the Free State district stands and how it is developing. The project's M&E system will add to South Africa's

collection of valid OVC data as well as build M&E skills and understanding of the local project staff.

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

SUMMARY:

This project is being initiated by the Department of Education in the Free State province, managed and

supported by Health and Development Africa. The project will support Orphans and Vulnerable Children

(OVC) through a school-based intervention in 90 schools in the Free State province, and the development

of 18 community Child Care Forums. Community Facilitators will work with structures at a school and district

level to identify OVC and support them. The emphasis areas are human capacity development and local

organizational capacity development. The specific target population is orphans and vulnerable children.

BACKGROUND:

HDA is a South African health consulting company, which has been working in the field of HIV for the past 7

years. Between 2000 and 2003 HDA staff led and participated in a number of HIV Impact Studies for

Ministries of Education across Southern Africa. As a result HDA developed the Circles Of Support (COS)

model to provide education ministries with a model they could use to develop ways to support OVC within

the education system. This model trains educators and community members to work together to identify

vulnerable children. These children are then assisted with their basic needs, and also the project also

ensures that they stay in school and continue with their education. By using schools, which are present in all

communities, the COS model becomes a sustainable way to support vulnerable children, and make sure

that they do not get trapped in a cycle of poverty, which also makes them more vulnerable to HIV infection.

This project will build on existing initiatives to support OVC by the Department of Education that are already

underway in the Free State province. It will also build on the Circles of Support (COS) project developed by

Activity Narrative: HDA, and implemented in Swaziland, Botswana and Namibia between 2003 and 2005. While the project

aims to target all OVC in the project schools, there will be particular focus on the vulnerable girls, and will

aim to ensure that these girls continue with their schooling.Activities and expected results:We will carry out

5 main activities in FY 2008.

ACTIVITY 1: Training & Assessment

The first activity will be to review and adapt the materials that have previously been used for similar projects

in Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and the Eastern Cape. The DOE will assist HDA decide the most

important content for the facilitation materials including but not limited to: Understanding children's lives,

talking and listening to children, setting up a circle of support group at school, setting up a neighborhood

circle of support group, basic HIV and AIDS knowledge, know the community your school serves, know who

to ask for help and support, find ways to get financial or other material support for children, decide what

action to take to help children, how to use the circles of support diary. After this HDA will train at least 6

Circles of Support (COS) facilitators (dedicated project staff) and at least 6 learning support facilitators

(DOE staff) the above topics. We will recruit the 6 facilitators in this period, and conduct training workshops

that will HDA will also coordinate a capacity audit in a sample of project schools. The capacity assessment

processes will ensure that any significant policy or institutional issues that may impede the implementation

of the project are identified at the beginning and discussed with the DoE and key stakeholders. Also it will

ensure that the facilitation manuals and awareness materials are sensitive to the school environment and

address key capacity gaps.

ACTIVITY 2:

The second activity will be the facilitation and development of 18 community forums. These structures are

being set at the request of the Department of Education in the Free State. They are multi-sectoral bodies

that can overcome some of the common obstacles that OVC face. For example, it is not possible for OVC to

access child support grants without identify documents, but often this requires the Department of Home

Affairs, as well as the police and other stakeholders to assist OVC to get all of the necessary documents in

order.Each local COS facilitator will be responsible for the development of 3 Child Care Forums (CCF). This

will involve identification of stakeholders, community mapping, introductory workshops, monthly meetings

and oversight of a program of activities. It is expected that the CCFs will be operational within the first six

months of project implementation. These forums will typically be made up of community members, as well

as representatives from the Departments of Education, Health and Social Development. HDA will orient and

train the CCF members, using a similar curriculum to that used for the School-based Support Teams

(SBSTs) (see above). After this the COS facilitators will ensure that these community forums meet at least

monthly, and also that any problems that are being experienced by the SBSTs are being raised and

solutions discussed at these meetings.

ACTIVITY 3: Strengthening School-based Support

HDA will partner with 90 schools in the Lejweleputswa district to establish Schools-based Support Teams

(SBSTs). SBSTs will include teachers, concerned parents and community members who can play an active

role in supporting children. In schools where the Department of Education has established Health Advisory

Communities (HACs), the HAC will serve as the SBST. These SBSTs will be supported by a local COS

facilitator and learning support facilitator/s. The local COS facilitator will lead the process of introducing the

COS project to SBSTs and will, through a program of half day workshops train SBST members on the

needs of vulnerable children, how to identify children, community mapping, networking with government and

other resources, action planning and monitoring and reporting.Once members of the SBST have been

trained they will start to actively identify vulnerable children in the school. All teachers will be asked to be

involved in a process of identifying these children, many of whom are already known. Although the initial

process will prioritize children in school, it is expected to extend to siblings who are not in school, and also

children who have dropped out of school. The children that are supported at school will not be identified as

"AIDS orphans", and the HDA will train the teachers to approach all vulnerable children in a sensitive

manner.

ACTIVITY 4:

Care and Support HDA and the Department of Education will ensure that all children who are identified

through this project are provided with a package of services to ensure that the child's needs are met as

comprehensively as possible. The SBST will meet monthly, and discuss and assess the children who are

being supported. After a child has been identified, members of the SBST will conduct interviews with the

child and caregivers to determine the child's needs, and to discuss priority interventions. If necessary home

visits will be organized to establish the circumstances under which the child is living. Once the needs

assessment is completed the SBST will provide the child with support to meet their needs. This support is

likely to include the following: provision of school equipment and uniform, assistance to ensure exemption of

school fees, working with local clinics to get access to health care, assistance with ensuring the child

receives a social grant and nutritional support. This is usually delivered by referring the child to NGOs

working in the community, or through helping the school set up a feeding program. Children will also receive

ssistance with home care and home work. Often these children are looking after ill adults, and younger

children. The SBST works with neighbors and community organizations to make sure that these children get

support in these tasks, while at the same time get help with their own school work. There may be extreme

cases where children are in severe need, either because they do not have housing, or food, or are being

abused in some way. In this case the SBST will work closely with the Department of Social Development,

and the South African Police, to ensure the safety of that child. If the SBST is unable to find a way to

provide for child's needs, they will then consult the COS facilitator and the Community Forum. The COS

facilitator will also help to share experiences between SBSTs, and highlight solutions that can then be used

in other areas. The COS facilitator will also help to monitor the progress that the SBSTs are making. The

COS Project will ensure the following is monitored in terms of gender: the gender of OVC receiving direct

support, the involvement of women in all COS structures (particularly at the local level where there can be

Activity Narrative: over representation of women), adequate involvement of men in COS structures.This means all monitoring

data will be disaggregated by gender, including all workshop data. Additional exercises specifically

addressing gender issues will be integrated into set-up training. For example, the training will focus on the

increased vulnerability of girls, and ways to ensure that girls are kept safe, both in and out of school.

Training will also discuss critical child safety and protection issues such as sexual abuse. SBSTs will be

encouraged to introduce child participation activities designed to build self esteem of vulnerable children,

particularly girls where this may be necessary to build resilience.

By the end of FY 2008 all 90 schools will be actively implementing COS support activities. While the main

focus of the SBSTs is to keep OVC in school, other services will be to ensure that OVC get social grants, to

provide psychosocial support, and to provide for material needs where this is a problem for that child. The

schools will get some funds for emergency support for OVC. This may include the purchase of food,

transport of children and carers to places of safety etc.

New/Continuing Activity: Continuing Activity

Continuing Activity: 15935

Continued Associated Activity Information

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

System ID System ID

15935 15935.08 U.S. Agency for Health and 7297 7297.08 $700,000

International Development

Development 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 $61,000

Public Health Evaluation

Food and Nutrition: Policy, Tools, and Service Delivery

Food and Nutrition: Commodities

Economic Strengthening

Education

Water

Table 3.3.13: