Rafiki ChildCare Program

The Need

In sub-Saharan Africa, the AIDS pandemic has deprived many children of their fathers and mothers. Even with one surviving parent, the needs of a child cannot be met in most of these countries. These children are left without a family, without education, and without a future.

The ChildCare Program is part of a Rafiki Village and it provides a family and a future for orphans in countries that have been devastated by AIDS.

The ChildCare Program Provides:

– A nurturing atmosphere for the orphans
– A home and family that promote spiritual and emotional well-being
– Vocational training to equip the children for employment as adult leaders in their local community

Since our goal is to develop these children to be godly contributors to their countries in Africa, we do not facilitate the adoption of these children out of their countries, nor do we plan on educating them in the United States. Instead, we will raise and educate them in their home countries so that they will remain and provide the much needed leadership and help in their own culture.

This is achieved within the following framework:

Facilities

Each Village provides a home for several hundred children. The Village has twelve cottages, each housing ten children and one African mother. In addition, there are four residence halls which provide housing accommodations for our children as they enter secondary school.

The mothers and residence hall parents receive training on child development and Christian principles to provide a loving home for each child. Each cottage lives together as a family—eating, going to church, playing, and working together. The children and the mothers connect as family. When the children enter junior secondary school they move to a residence hall at the Rafiki Village which has a married couple who become the Rafiki mother and father for the children thus providing a father figure for our Rafiki children.

The Rafiki Village has a dining hall and an infirmary to care for the nutritional and health needs of the children.

The children benefit from a playing field for sports.