This afternoon we went to the church in Mangu, about 1 1/2 hour drive out of Jos. We were greeted by 3 pastors, ~9 women's fellowship members, ~ 16 AIDS orphans, and 16 caregivers of orphans. After formalities, we broke into 4 groups to learn and share lives and experiences.
Most of the caregivers had taken in from 1-3 orphans when a family member and their spouse had died. CRWRC's Beacon of Hope (BOH) is working with the Women's Fellowship to identify orphans in the church community who need help with school fees. BOH provides school fees and training to assist caregivers to raise orphans in positive ways that engender hope. Caregivers, who also had their own children to care for expressed gratitude to BOH and us for this assistance. The pastor’s we
re interested in differences between US and Nigeria in AIDS epidemic. They related supporting HIV awareness and stigma-reduction activities in their churches.Attached are representative photos of the pastors and woman’s fellowship groups.
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