The Happy Africa Foundation | Always moving forward. Always giving back.

Ten Families Programme, St Lucia

Working in the communities of Khula and Eswenalisha we recognise there is a real need to support local families; many of whom are living in basic conditions, struggling to bring up children with the impact of HIV and AIDS but desperate to educate and equip themselves with skills so that they can begin to change their situation independently. We aim to empower families with knowledge and skills that will help to improve their health, education and employment opportunities. Ultimately we believe this will help to have a hugely positive effect not just on individual families but on the community as a whole. With the help of the Nduna we are able to identify families that we believe are in greatest need and who will benefit the most from our support. After a family has been identified, we visit their home three times a week for one month. We will work with them to provide the following support:

Building
With the help of the volunteers we assist the chosen family with building a small structure that they can stay in. In many cases this is a temporary measure until the family is given a permanent government house.

Farming
We will help the family to prepare their land; assisting them with clearing, planting and weeding. In addition we will supply the materials so that they can build a small stall, from where they can sell their produce. Once they start to make a profit they will be able to put this back into their business to buy more materials.

HIV awareness
We talk with the family and help to educate them about HIV and AIDS, prevention and treatment. We will also ensure that all of the family has access to free testing to find out their HIV status. Many people who live with HIV are too afraid to get tested because of fear and ignorance and so fall ill quickly.

Life skills
We discuss health and nutrition, to help them to understand how they can keep their family healthy. Where possible we also help to improve their employment opportunities; developing their CVs and helping them to write cover letters to companies.

How you can help
The total cost for one family is $500 but we don’t want to stop there, please help us to make a sustainable difference to as many families as possible! If you would like to make a donation please click here.