About This Field Partner
Forgotten Voices is innovating orphan care through the local church. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, our partnerships in southern Africa provide a community-based pathway to sustainable orphan care.
By supporting Forgotten Voices financially, your gifts enable a long term plan for orphan care: You make it possible for us to work with our partners to:
Create the plan - The local church is God’s Plan A.
We partner with pastors from theologically sound seminaries in southern Africa, who are already trained in community development and HIV/AIDS. Typically over a year, we help them create their custom plan to meet the orphan crises - turning them into agents of hope, instead of reactionaries.
Fund the plan - We're joining, not directing, the response.
We come alongside these churches for 3-5 years to fund their custom plans to a level where they can eventually raise funds. Funding focuses on what each child uniquely needs, considering what the church and community already provide. Education home based care, agriculture, water, skills training, income generation, & psycho social support are the most common needs we address. On average, it costs our partners $120/year to provide direct support for one child.
Build income - Because every mother wants to provide for her own child.
We help communities create customized, income generating projects to self-fund their on-going orphan care. After proof of concept (needs assessment, plan to monitor, etc), we provide funding. Recent income projects included:
2. QUIET INVESTMENTS: Forgotten Voices then quietly funds these custom plans to a level that allows the church to try and sustain itself over time through income generation
Why orphan care? Why churches?
Every day the number of children orphaned by AIDS in Zimbabwe and Zambia alone approaches 1,000. Every day. This results in children who are vulnerable to abuse, dropping out of school, and being victimized by trafficking.
While the number of orphans has exponentially grown, so has something else: the local church in Africa. In 1900 there were only 9 million Christians in Africa. Today there are over 540 million, over half the entire population of Africa. The church in Africa is everywhere now, yet church leaders in Africa tell us that the way American churches partner with the African church has remained the same, often resulting in destroyed morale, debilitated care networks, and dependent systems. Our ministry focuses on listening to the concerns and ideas of the local church. With the intensifying influence of the African church over the last 100 years, we believe a new way of delivering orphan care is needed.
So where do I fit in?
Forgotten Voices is demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ by equipping churches in southern Africa to meet the physical and spiritual needs of children orphaned by AIDS in their communities.By supporting Forgotten Voices financially, your gifts enable a long term plan for orphan care: You make it possible for us to work with our partners to:
Create the plan - The local church is God’s Plan A.
We partner with pastors from theologically sound seminaries in southern Africa, who are already trained in community development and HIV/AIDS. Typically over a year, we help them create their custom plan to meet the orphan crises - turning them into agents of hope, instead of reactionaries.
We come alongside these churches for 3-5 years to fund their custom plans to a level where they can eventually raise funds. Funding focuses on what each child uniquely needs, considering what the church and community already provide. Education home based care, agriculture, water, skills training, income generation, & psycho social support are the most common needs we address. On average, it costs our partners $120/year to provide direct support for one child.
Build income - Because every mother wants to provide for her own child.
We help communities create customized, income generating projects to self-fund their on-going orphan care. After proof of concept (needs assessment, plan to monitor, etc), we provide funding. Recent income projects included:
a. hammermills to grind corn
b. tailoring training schools
c. brick-making machine
d. income generating farms
What makes your approach innovative?
Our model offers insights to help all parties address the real and rising needs of orphans more effectively. Eight years of conversations have lead us to distinctively equip local churches with:1. CUSTOM PLANS: There are many things that we could provide for children, but local caregivers are already providing some things themselves. Our process helps churches assess physical & spiritual needs, then create custom plans to fill the remaining gaps. Some children may receive school fees and water while another child receives food and counseling. More people are being helped for less money, while building dignity.
2. QUIET INVESTMENTS: Forgotten Voices then quietly funds these custom plans to a level that allows the church to try and sustain itself over time through income generation
activities. Local volunteers carry out these plans. Whenever possible, children and caregivers who benefit don’t know about Forgotten Voices. Their on-going relationship is with the local church, not us.
3. FLEXIBLE PARTNERSHIPS: For too long the traditional system of orphan care has been rigid. Our model has a built-in review process throughout the partnership that allows each church to dynamically allocate funds based on the changing needs of each child.
Find out more at www.forgottenvoices.org
Find out more at www.forgottenvoices.org