Inter Press Service - September 16, 2002
Brahima Ouedraogo

Burkina Faso, a semi-arid West African country, with a population of about 11 million, has 350,000 AIDS orphans.

Using a community approach means that the local anti-AIDS groups will be " independent of foreign aid and integrate the children more easily into the local community".

"Let's try to be imaginative and enlist the help of communities. There is no way we can bear the burden of raising money for food and school fees for these children as the years go by," explains Boureima Zida from 'Positive Life', a non-governmental organisation NGO) based in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.

'Positive Life', which is involved in the fight against AIDS, has deployed 25 volunteers in a suburb of Ouagadougou to monitor the living conditions of more than 400 orphans.

"A few years ago, we set up a literacy camp and realised that many of the orphans did not have sleeping mats or clothing. The problem was resolved by appealing to the community for help," says a volunteer, who refused to be named.

"Sometimes children are thrown out of school simply because they owe 1,500 CFA (around 2.25 U.S. dollars) in fees. If there were a bit of solidarity within the community, the orphans would be permitted to stay," explains Sylvie Sawadogo, another volunteer.

The volunteers -- most of them young people -- assist the orphans to have their school fees waived. They work with city officials and social workers to enhance co-ordination and identify the children in need.

"We have to develop strategies so that people get more involved. The alternative is to remain prisoner to the international donor organisations, and continue to borrow and reimburse colossal sums so long as the disease is not eradicated," says Zida, whose organisation has placed 50 children into schools.

"We let the organisations do the work because they're in touch with the communities and know the needs of the children," says Marcel Lalsaga of the National Committee Against AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

The government, which has only allocated 100 million CFA (about 150,150 U.S. dollars) annually since 1999 for orphans and people living with AIDS, admits that communities have a major role to play as donor funding dwindles.

Until now, state funds had been used to care for 3,500 children. The families -- looking after the orphans -- only receive financial aid if the child is an infant, in school, or sick. Otherwise, the community looks after the children in their care.

"We don't want to favour the orphans more than the other children," says Lalsaga.

"Let's not forget that it's often the poor who go out an extra mile to show solidarity with the community," he notes.

Burkina Faso is the second most affected country in West Africa by the virus. The rate of infection has gone up from four percent in 1989 to 7.17 percent in 2001 in the country, where 122 persons are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, every day, according to UNAIDS.

In June 2001, the UN Development Fund (UNPD) held a meeting with donors to provide 71 billion CFA (around 106.6 million U.S. dollars) to finance an anti-AIDS project.

In May, Burkina Faso secured a 90 percent reduction in the price of anti-retroviral drugs from the pharmaceutical companies, which usually cost between 200,000 and 300,000 CFA (between 300 and 450 U.S. dollars) per month. Between 15 and 20 percent of children aged 0-15 are AIDS orphans, says a study by the National Committee Against AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

Without AIDS, the rate would be closer to eight percent, says the committee.

Local leaders, religious and traditional chiefs also participate in the monitoring process of the AIDS orphans. "They can be on the spot if needed to advise guardians and parents," says a local leader in Ouagadougou.

"When people mobilise for development events, they get down to it. Why not mobilise them to look after the children, too, which requires human values such as tolerance, solidarity, and helping others, all distinctive features of our societies?" asks Paul Antoine Some of Private Community Initiative, which provides financial support to 50 groups involved in anti-AIDS and Sexually-Transmitted Diseases.

"There's a need to educate people, train them, and sensitise them so that they acquire skills to look after the children," explains Some.

Because of the stigma attached to AIDS in rural areas, campaigners and government officials have suggested avoiding calling the children "AIDS orphans".(END/IPS/AF/TRA-FRE/HD/SZ/MN/02)

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