Where we're going
The plan for One Heart Source is a system of well-being aimed at supporting women and children to provide an effective and strategic attack against the vicious cycle of AIDS and poverty. In the face of staggering statistics and a virus whose impact continues to escalate, there is hope. One child at a time, one village at a time, one ward at a time—together we will fight our way out of depths that many have turned their backs to. The One Heart Source site will serve as a center of social well-being for all vulnerable and orphaned children in the Mateves Ward.
Within the next five years OHS looks to have the below infrastructure in place to provide services that every child in this world should have. Join the One Heart Source Family and become a part of the movement for children’s rights. There are great challenges in our way that we cannot ignore, together we will embrace the fierce urgency of now and put this plan into action.
There are five important components to our approach:
- A three-classroom school on site where vulnerable children in the ward will receive free extracurricular education on sustainable living, life skills, and tutoring in school subjects.
- The OHS volunteer group will teach a full curriculum on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Awareness at all primary and secondary schools in the Mateves Ward. This will empower an entire generation to come.
- Preventative health and wellness education seminars for community members on methods to promote long-term healthy living, family health, and economic sustainability.
- An on-site home for abandoned and orphaned children who receive high-quality care in a family-focused setting. Many of these children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, some of these children are HIV positive and will receive special nursing care. This is not an orphanage; it is a home with a family that instills love, values, education, and personal development.
- One goal: 0% mortality of young children due to treatable illnesses in this ward.
- A Medical Care Center for women and children designed to diagnose and treat diseases that have devastated the area. Malaria, TB, diarrhea, and amoebas—we have all heard how cheap it is to cure these widespread infectious diseases, now it is time to cure them. All vulnerable children in the village will receive free treatment.
- Free HIV Testing and Counseling
- Free prenatal health care for pregnant women in the ward which provides free check-ups and testing during pregnancy. This will also give HIV positive mother’s access to Nevirapine, a drug that lowers mother to child HIV transmission from 20% to less than 2% during childbirth.
- This on-site center will provide education and vocational training for street children who demonstrate a desire to work towards a goal. It will also provide counseling for drug rehabilitation and abused street children.
- The escalating street child population is deeply rooted in the fracturing of village families primarily due to the loss of one or both parents from economic or medical hardship. OHS looks to prevent the children’s transition into the city by providing sustainable solutions within the ward and the empowerment of community members to help raise abandoned children.
- A center for proper statistical gathering and analysis. Accurate information is essential for OHS and partnering organizations to best direct our efforts in combating the epidemic. Consistent monitoring will also show areas of positive growth, which is critical to demonstrating our social model as a large scale solution.
- Many statistics for this region are undocumented or hugely disproportionate. OHS will compile ward statistics using a door-to-door method to ensure accuracy.
- Identification of vulnerable children and enrollment in OHS will also minimize the rate of child trafficking, child labor, and the use of children for sexual exploitation. Added oversight improves the well-being of all children and provides a voice for their lives.
Education: HIV Prevention, Awareness, Life Skills, and Empowerment
