Seke Rural Home Based Care, Zimbabwe

http://www.oxfam.ca/our-work/our-approach/hiv-aids-awareness/meet-our-collaborators-and-partners

Veronica Ngwerume is Director and a founder of Seke Rural Home-Based Care, providing home-based care for clients with HIV and AIDS in rural Zimbabwe since 2001. Seke Rural Health incorporates a sustainable livelihoods approach to their work. They also actively participate in communication, advocacy and policy development for improvements in home-based HIV and AIDS access, treatment and care.

Seke successfully implemented a series of ground-breaking 'Community Culture Dialogues exploring challenges to gender and HIV and AIDS and fighting unprogressive cultural practices that fuel the spread of the disease.

Seke has also recently mobilized a community-based paralegal project in partnership with the Zimbabwe Women Lawyer's Association. In an attempt to protect women and children from disinheritance following the death of a spouse from HIV and AIDS, Seke has trained local women as paralegals. They work within the community to disseminate information on women's property and land rights and further develop cases when these rights have been taken away.

Orphans and Vulnerable children

Article from http://www.childrenfirst.worlded.org/Partners/partners.htm

Seke Rural Home Based Care

Seke Rural Home Based Care supports community efforts to reduce the proportion of children facing psychosocial challenges as a result of HIV and AIDS. In collaboration with Children First, Seke supports over 1,400 orphan and vulnerable children in greater Harare (Seke and Manyame) with pediatric palliative care, training of caregivers, counseling, bereavement support, educational assistance and material support such as sanitary ware.

Areas served: Chitungwiza and Seke (Greater Harare, peri-urban settlements).
OVC Services Provided: Psychosocial support, medical support, educational support.


http://www.fao.org/3/a-ai499e/
http://www.fao.org/3/a-ai499e/

Vulnerable Children and Orphans (OVCs)
Vulnerable children are usually considered to be any children who lack family support, are poor, are disabled, are in prison, or who experience frequent changes in residence because of homelessness or refugee status. In the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, children are also made vulnerable by having a chronically ill parent or by living in a household where at least one adult has died in the last year. Orphans, who are a special category of vulnerable children, are considered to be any children who lack one or both parents. The literature refers to single orphans who have lost one parent as opposed to double orphans who have lost both parents. It also refers to paternal orphans who have lost their father as opposed to maternal orphans who have lost their mother. Moreover, the literature refers to several types of orphans according to the following factors: cause of orphaning, such as war orphans and AIDS orphans; support systems, such as foster-care orphans; and place of residence, such as street orphans. Some development specialists argue against using the term orphan, especially the term AIDS orphan, in order to avoid stigmatizing the child. In addition, some specialists argue against using the term AIDS orphan because it fosters confusion about whether a child was orphaned by AIDS or is suffering from AIDS himself/herself. 

Children's Property Inheritance in the Context of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe

By Laurel L. Rose, Ph.D. 

http://www.fao.org/3/a-ai499e/


2 Research in Seke District

Several orphans and their grandmothers were interviewed at Seke Rural Home-based Care (SRHBC), a CBO based in Seke (ca 30 km south of Harare). The organization has assisted people with will-writing (see Izumi, 2006b: 37). The interviews emphasized property disputes (i.e. property grabbing).

9.2.1 Case Summaries
Case 1
A 19-year-old male double orphan was staying with his maternal uncle because his paternal uncle (father's younger brother) had taken over his father's house and land after he had died of AIDS in 2004. Apparently, his paternal uncle did not have his own house or land. Although his paternal uncle told him that he could remain in the house, the uncle subsequently burned his special religious clothing and denied him food, thus compelling him to flee to his maternal uncle's house. The orphan complained about his paternal uncle's actions to the police, but they refused to intervene, saying that they could not assist in a “home affair”. The paternal uncle was also holding onto the orphan's father's death certificate, thereby preventing the orphan from claiming his father's property. According to the orphan, his greatest problem was that he lacked a birth certificate; he knew that without his birth certificate, he could not claim his parents' land and property, even though his father had written a will with the assistance of someone at the organization SRHBC. The orphan believed that his birth certificate would also be of use to him in getting social assistance and a better job. 

Case 2

A 16-year-old male double orphan was living with his maternal grandmother. His parents had died when he was very young, and his paternal relatives had taken his parents' land and property. His paternal relatives had no interest in seeing or assisting him and his three siblings. According to his maternal grandmother, his paternal relatives had taken his parents' property because they did not recognize their marriage.

Case 3
A 14-year-old female double orphan was living with her maternal grandmother who was caring for the nine orphans of four of her children who had died of AIDS. In addition, the grandmother was caring for another ailing daughter who was bedridden. Only one of the nine orphans was in school; his maternal aunt was paying for his school fees although her husband would not allow him to live with them. The parents of the female orphan had owned no land because her father had been foreign-born and had lived in another part of Zimbabwe. Because her father had not maintained contact with her and her siblings, they were experiencing problems acquiring their birth certificates and their father's death certificate.23

9.2.2 Case Analysis
Although the interview sample was small, the interviews substantiate information obtained from separate interviews with legal professionals in Zimbabwe. In effect, the cases reveal that children's property inheritance in Seke was being negatively affected by three present- day factors. The first factor concerned the lack of birth and death certificates for orphans. In Cases 1 and 3, the orphans lacked birth and death certificates that they needed for educational, social assistance, and employment purposes. In Case 1, however, the certificates were being withheld from an orphan, whereas in Case 3, the certificates were not easily obtainable due to the foreign nationality of the orphans' father.
The second factor concerned land scarcity. In Cases 1 and 2, the orphans' paternal relatives had confiscated the orphans' property and were not providing support to them. In Case 1, the younger brother of an orphan's father had taken over his land because he (the brother) had been unable to obtain land because of land scarcity in the region.
The third factor concerned the unwillingness of orphans' relatives to acknowledge them if their parents had not been married. In Case 2, the orphans' paternal relatives had taken over their parents' property because their parents had not had a formal marriage.

 http://www.fao.org/3/a-ai499e/