Compassionate Care

"We see God in the activities that we do... we go from house to house and we see that people are spiritually hungry. They don't want to receive us sometimes [because people know that we are visiting them because they might be HIV+], but we don't lose hope and we pray. [We are persistent because they need our help]. Afterwards, they accept us and we can work with them, and we feel God's presence."

Home Based Care worker, Nhamatanda, Mozambique

Compassionate Care
Food for the Hungry provides home-based care for people living with HIV and care for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) in Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda, and Rwanda and Haiti.  We do this by mobilizing and training groups of community volunteers to form care groups.  The volunteers visit community members, administering basic pain medication, encouraging, counseling, and praying for them as well as assisting in household chores they are too weak to perform themselves.

Visiting Orphans
The volunteers also visit homes of orphans who have lost one or both of their parents from AIDS.  They make sure the children's school fees are paid, help with homework, assist with chores around the house, and ensure that they are being looked after by a relative or other community member.

"I've taken in one of the orphans as my own.  When happiness comes, we share it together.  When sadness comes, we share it together." 
Caregiver of orphans, Nairobi, Kenya

Nutritional Support
Nutrition programs are also a vital component to HIV care and support. The nutritional status of those with HIV+ is significantly weakened and children of sick parents and or elderly caregivers often suffer from malnutrition. Food supplementation is also often necessary for HIV+ people to be healthy enough to tolerate the strong medicines needed to keep them healthy.

Livelihood Support
Small business education, training and oversight provided by Food for the Hungry increases the ability of families to raise and keep income so they can access health care, send their children to school, and care for themselves.  Increasing income is a tangible and meaningful way for families to support themselves while maintaining their freedom and dignity.

Care Strategy
Food for the Hungry reaches hundreds of thousands of people affected and infected with HIV by training church members to reach out to their neighbors.  Trained volunteers show the love of God by providing a caring face in their own community.  "Care Committees" in churches provide oversight to their group of trained volunteers, and help relate the specific needs of their community to our staff.  This approach is extremely cost effective, and aligns with our mission to walk alongside community leaders, churches and families to help equip them to overcome poverty issues like HIV/AIDS.