Yabonga Children, HIV and AIDS

About us

Yabonga aims to create an effective, sustainable model of care providing education, support and skills training to HIV positive women and men to effect positive change in the lives of their families and communities. Training Peer educators and lay Counsellors who are HIV positive themselves, means that they are able to convey first hand information to their clients.

Yabonga is currently active in 12 communities and employs almost 100 previously unemployed HIV positive women and men.

Yabonga also runs an Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Programme as well as a Youth Programme.

The OVC Programme currently supports over 500 children aged between 5 and 12 who are impoverished and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. They have either lost parents/ guardians to AIDS, or are living with parents who are HIV positive. Many of the children are infected with the virus themselves. Yabonga provides psycho-social support, holiday programmes and outings and educational assistance. The children’s nutritional needs are taken care of by Community Mothers who cook and care for the children in their own homes, creating an additional place of safety for them.

The Youth Programme aims to empower disadvantaged, vulnerable Youth to make a positive impact on various aspects of their lives. It currently caters for about 300 high school learners in six different Townships around Cape Town. The programme consists of four main components:
1) Educational Support – encouraging and helping learners to perform well in class and complete their schooling. Support is provided in form of tutorials in English and Maths, Life Skills workshops, Home work assistance and Exam preparation. 2) Arts/Culture and Music Activities in which the Youth engages actively and creatively. 3) HIV/AIDS Education and prevention work-encouraging young people to live positive, healthy lives and become their own role models. 4) Sports - promoting physical activity and team sports