Hands to Hands Program | Open Arms Program | Community Outreach

Open Arms Program
One of the most distinguishing characteristics of the AIDS pandemic is its long lasting effect on not only the victims of the disease, but also the family members of the victims. Most notably, children have come to bear the burden of the disease’s aftermath. Within the next three years, according to UNICEF, there will be approximately 15.7 million children orphaned by AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The Open Arms Program is the ADMProject’s main effort to support the vulnerable population of displaced children. Caring for orphans not only promotes the health of the individual child but also encourages responsible decisions and healthy lifestyles that will shape the future of communities.

The project aims to have multiple community-based orphan centers that house, educate, and fully support displaced children. These centers will be supervised and operated by members of the local community. Although the centers will be designed to specifically meet the needs of orphans, they are also intended to enhance communities by offering access to healthcare, education, and technology centers. The centers will ensure that the children are actively involved in local communities to prevent isolation and stigma.

The ADMProject is currently developing orphan care projects in Cameroon and Togo.

Cameroon
A recent UNICEF report cites that there are 708,000 orphaned children under the age of 14 in Cameroon. In May, an ADMProject team visited several orphanages, schools and health facilities in both Douala and Yaoundé. As in other parts of Africa, there is no shortage of orphanages or individuals willing to care for these children but these orphanages are typically small and scattered both rural and urban. Because of poverty and lack of resources, orphan children typically live in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions with access to medical care, educational and training opportunities that are inadequate. Direct and indirect interventions are necessary, impacting on the orphanages themselves and the institutions they depend upon. Our Cameroon Orphan Relief Project (CORP) is designed to address these objectives using a multi-phased, systemic approach to help meet the needs of the children. Our plan calls for the establishment of a network of orphanages through which we will deliver condition-improving initiatives.