Mission Statement

Acting in the Spirit of Christ, Catholic AIDS Action challenges the AIDS pandemic in Namibia with the Courage to Fight and the Strength to Care for the benefit of all. In pursing justice and empowerment, and through holistic spirituality, CAA builds on Roman Catholic institutions and affiliated groups, other denominations, organizations and local communities to inspire and support programs of HIV/AIDS prevention and care and support to adults and children affected by and infected with HIV and AIDS.

Children

Namibia currently counts almost 160,000 orphans and vulnerable children. This represents over 30% of all Namibian children under 18.

As the number of Namibian orphans grows daily, Catholic AIDS Actions work in this area also grows rapidly. Trained volunteers offer love, emotional, practical and educational support to over 18,000 registered children. The work of supporting these children begins before the child is orphaned, helping parents with their planning and transition. After the parent has died, Catholic Aids Action continues to work with the children's caregiver(s) in the community to continue to provide support. This may include encouragement and support for education, referrals for medical intervention, provision of supplemental food, support groups and after-school programs, grief work, special holiday camps, and community advocacy. Services may also be provided in the following areas, In some centers CAA and our volunteers run soup kitchens for the neediest children.

An orphaned child meets many barriers on his or her way to further education. The Saving Remnant Fund was created to support the best and brightest orphans into secondary education. The program now supports over 300 children in secondary education. Since 2004 the Saving Remnant Fund managed to raise funding to support 7 children in tertiary education at University of Namibia and Polytechnic of Namibia. At the start of the 2006 academic year 7 students are being supported of which 2 are graduating in 2010. To make sure the students will finish their studies despite difficulties in their lives, CAA staff and volunteers support these students, thus ensuring a successful school career. It's CAA's ambition to support 15 children by 2010 to attend University and Polytechnic.