Imagine yourself at 9 years old. Chances are you were making it through fourth grade, increasing skill in sports or other hobbies and spending time with friends. The extent of your responsibility was probably collecting trash from various rooms in the home, washing dishes and assisting your mom with your younger brothers and sisters while she prepared dinner.
Now imagine all of that being taken away from you. Imagine having to care for parents who are quickly dying from or have died from AIDS. Because of this, you’ve had to take on the role as a parent and care for your younger siblings. Child services are not called and there is no place to go. If a grandparent is alive, you may have more responsibility added when, at 9, you’re left caring for an aging grandparent plus small children.
This scenario may be hypothetical to many, but for children in Swaziland, a small country in Southern Africa, this story is very real.
Time for action
With dead or missing parents, children as young as 9 years old are depended heavily upon to provide food for their families. Concerned with whether or not they will eat, and having to search for water, children of child headed households are suddenly saddled with the responsibility of caretaking and parenting.
Indianapolis resident Cynthia Prime has benevolently taken on the task of helping this group of children and she does so through her organization called Saving Orphans through Healthcare and Outreach (SOHO).
“Years ago I was at a consulting firm and I had a speaking engagement in Swaziland, Africa. Before I went, I got an email explaining the conditions. I said ‘I have a problem with you taking such care of me and you tell me sometimes children die because they don’t have food.’ I wasn’t comfortable with that,” said Prime.
This spurred her to action.
She learned that Swaziland is primarily rural and most citizens live in abject poverty. Basic needs are unmet and children must sometimes deal with issues such as rape or sexual abuse too.
Her first mission was to raise money to feed 1,000 children three meals a day for five days. She also set up a small clinic to address health needs.
“I discovered that for many of them, it might be the only time in their lifetime they have three meals a day,” said Prime who views these children as seekers of hope.
On that first mission in 2006, Prime and 17 volunteers distributed 17,250 meals and snacks, clothing for 11,700 orphans and children in need, and performed roughly 2,500 health examinations and treatments.
After that life-changing experience, Prime and her ministry partner Linda Schultz co-founded SOHO, a nonprofit organization to help improve the lives of orphans and vulnerable children – working to address their basic needs, and search for sustainable solutions. Her goal is to also offer healing, education, empowerment and parenting, giving kids the opportunity to be just that, a kid.
Through various trips per year to Swaziland, more than 10,000 orphans and vulnerable children have been helped since SOHO’s founding. Thousands more are in need and Prime has created programs to further her cause.
“There is so much potential there for good and positive change,” said Prime.
In addition to food and health care, SOHO offers support such as suicide prevention, substance abuse help and HIV/AIDS testing and education. She’s also created two welcome centers, a few preschools, after-school food programs, tutoring programs for older children and a nurse available for Swazi children.
Seeking help
Volunteers and a network of collaborators are the lifeblood of the non-profit and make it possible for SOHO to thrive. Prime has enlisted the help of various individuals and groups, from churches donating hand-sewn blankets to students at Ball State handling their social media.
Prime enlisted students from Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet High School to be a part of Peer Leaders for AIDS-Free Africa (PLAFA), a collaborative program of SOHO to empower local youth interested in the field of health care, to become active participants in HIV/AIDS and other communicable disease prevention, at home and abroad.
After significant training, last Thanksgiving a team of 14 Attucks students went to Swaziland. There, they shared in four Swazi high schools, accurate information on HIV/AIDS transmission, met with other peer leaders to explore what they can do to live healthier lives, and engaged in humanitarian outreach at a large orphanage.
“We had to make sure we didn’t take things too personal, but get personal enough so they could accept you into their culture,” said Cara Chislom, 18, a senior at Attucks. Kendrick Washington, 17, also a senior at Attucks, explained that one of the cultural differences Attucks peer leaders had to overcome was that Swazi kids are comfortable hugging strangers.
Most importantly, students witnessed just how appreciative Swazi youth can be.
“I learned to be more grateful and appreciate how hard my mother works. Being there, I saw firsthand that some of the kids are HIV positive and don’t have a mother to care for them,” said Chisholm.
Washington echoed her sentiments and added, “I learned to be more open minded.”
Prime, who is a native of the Caribbean, has commissioned IUPUI students for another project.
In Swaziland, some children have homes, and some find shelters in multipurpose centers, however Prime is in the process of building a safe house to provide proper, sustainable shelter for kids.
Beth Huffman, lecturer of interior design at IUPUI, and an architect by trade, and her students came up with the design of the home.
“The students have included a rainwater collection system, water purification system and designed a communal living space for six orphans. There’s even an operable stair case where girls can store their belongings,” explained Huffman. “This home will also be built from local materials.”
A portion of the safe house is on display in the Marsh Gallery at Herron School of Art and Design on the campus of IUPUI. The safe house is scheduled for construction in Swaziland in 2015.
Prime has also penned a book called Hope Seekers, a visually raw look at child-led households in the shadows of HIV/AIDS. Proceeds from the book will go to SOHO programs.
For more information, call Saving Orphans through Health Care and Outreach at (317) 471-5954 or visit savingorphans.com.
