Ujima Orphan and Widow Project

Ujima in Kiswahili: collective work and responsibility to build and maintain our community together to make our sisters' and brothers' problems our problems and to solve them together.

  

Urgent Africa's Ujima provides physical and mental health assistance, and education to surviving orphans and families so they can be protected from further spread of disease and starvation.

If they're lucky, orphans either live with a relative or are accepted by a foster family. Often, there are no surviving relatives, but some orphans end up living with families who are kind-hearted and relatives who take orphans at their own expense-and at the expense of their own children. Ujima provides support to these families who are assuming the greatest challenge of the AIDS crisis.

Urgent Africa's Ujima provides food, foster care, and education to surviving orphans and families. Through the Ujima Orphan and Widow Project, orphans of AIDS who are in high school and qualify for placement will receive scholarships to boarding schools. Foster care, and school tuition are arranged for orphans who are homeless and without family support. Ujima provides support for foster homes, which in turn are closely monitored by orphan advocates and counselors through regular home visits to ensure that the children are being properly counseled, educated and cared for.