In April 2009, 45 caretakers of orphans and vulnerable children graduated from a two-week program in food processing, sponsored by CRS’ partner the Catholic Diocese of Tanga and funded by an PEPFAR project. Photo by Debbie DeVoe/CRS

When the women break into song as we enter the room, it’s not just a welcoming greeting. It’s a song of thanks for the help they are receiving starting small businesses.

Up in Tanga, on Tanzania’s northern coast, scores of children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, leaving them to face enormous challenges:

• When one parent dies, the other is left as the sole earner and is rarely able to cover the family’s food and schooling expenses.

• When both parents die, the children are often taken in by relatives whose resources are already stretched exceedingly thin to support their own families.

• When no relatives are available or willing to assist, the eldest orphan can end up caring for his or her younger siblings, becoming the head of their household even when as young as 14—and likely dropping out of school to do so.

Catholic Relief Services through funding through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is helping to support thousands of orphans across Africa. A key aspect of supporting these children is helping their caregivers earn a better living.
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CRS friends at the Caritas blog posted a note of hope on conditions in Zimbabwe:

“One would say ‘Could the last person to leave Zimbabwe please switch off the light’, but as the electricity isn’t working there would be no point.
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Johnnie Dorsey, director of the Office for Black Catholics for the Diocese of Austin, Texas, recently visited Ethiopia as part of a CRS-sponsored delegation sent to view development programs in Ethiopia and to raise awareness and foster advocacy for Africa’s poor.

On his return, Dorsey wrote an article for the Austin American Statesman.

Dorsey wrote: “Awareness raising started right away. On our drive from the Addis Ababa airport to our hotel, I could see homeless people in one darkened, impoverished neighborhood after another. Relatives huddled together, wrapping themselves in paper and plastic for their night’s sleep. It was a prelude of what we would see in days to come.”