International Program

Open Arms partners with non-profit organizations in sub-Saharan Africa to provide nutrition and technical assistance to people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

This year, we continued our work in Guguletu, South Africa, supporting the J.L. Zwane Centre and distributing food parcels. We also added three new programs.

In South Africa:

Ikamva Labantu
Ikamva Labantu (IL) has over 1,000 projects serving children, families and seniors with emergency food relief. IL employs 30 paid and volunteer caregivers in three townships, and its home-based care program serves hundreds of homebound patients living with TB and HIV/AIDS. In addition, Ikamva Labantu’s Food Garden Project helps provide community training in gardening, as well as fresh vegetables and good nutrition for hundreds of township residents.

Open Arms supports the community garden project through technical assistance and funding support, which Ikamva Labantu uses to employ six gardeners. Gardeners oversee 43 food gardens throughout the townships, producing fresh vegetables for senior centers, daycare centers and foster families. In addition to using the food for participants, gardeners are able to sell any surplus produce to help support their own households.

Social Justice Coalition
The Social Justice Coalition is located in Khayelitsha, a township outside Cape Town with a population of more than 700,000 people. It was founded in 2010 to bring awareness to and foster change around issues of safety and sanitation in the townships surrounding Cape Town. One of those issues is access to clean drinking water, which is essential to good health, especially for those living with HIV/AIDS.
Open Arms contributions help fund a staff position at the Social Justice Coalition.

In Ethiopia:

Dawn of Hope/Adama Nutrition Support Project

Dawn of Hope is an HIV/AIDS rehabilitation center in Adama, Ethiopia that provides emergency food relief and community support services for 100 people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition, former patients work in the community garden and return to the center for a daily meal.

Open Arms, in partnership with the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), provides Dawn of Hope with technical support and funding for their programs.