Partners

FMC's desire is to equip local Christian organisations with the skills and resources they need to be effective in their area of ministry. The organisations FMC works with fill many different roles in the care of people affected by HIV and AIDS, from orphan care programmes to home based care services for the sick. Those organisations with whom FMC has established a long term relationship are referred to as partners. Some examples of the partnerships that FMC has formed are:


Tumelong Counselling and Day Care Centre

Tumelong, meaning 'where faith is' in Setswana, is based in the small village of Kumakwane. In 2002 community pastors and church members began discussing how they could support community members who were affected by HIV and AIDS. In 2003 they began offering counselling services to those infected as well as their families. The following year an orphan day-care project was initiated to help care for the many affected local children. Today both the counselling services and the day care centre are still running. In 2008, local Christian volunteer counsellors offer their services to over 100 people in the village, most of whom are HIV-positive. Additionally, the day-care program – which includes meals, activities, and counselling – serves over 60 preschool age children, 40 of whom are orphans. The centre also cares for 30 school age children in an after school program that provides homework help, a healthy meal, devotional, counselling, and caring adult relationships.

Some ways FMC has been involved:

  • Continues to donate clothes and food for the children who need them
  • Facilitated the original discussions on how the local churches could help the community
  • Supplies short-term volunteers who organize weekly games, crafts, and devotions
  • Provided training for the day-care centre workers through the Little Seeds Programme (see below)
  • Sourced funding and offered labour to help prepare the current orphan care facility
Interested in how you can support Tumelong? » Current Projects






Little Seeds Training Programme

Little Seeds Trust is a non-profit Christian organisation that provides training for day care centre care givers. In their base, South Africa, they have been training child teachers for over ten years. Many child care providers in Botswana are volunteers who often have a limited educational background and no knowledge of early childhood development (ECD). To help meet this need, FMC has partnered with Little Seeds to bring this training program to Botswana. In keeping with the programme's focus, 'children learning through play', the Little Seeds programme teaches how to stimulate learning through age appropriate play. Little Seeds is important because the Day Care Centres FMC works with are financially unable to provide any other form of training. This programme has been met with much enthusiasm. After training just 10 caregivers, today over 300 pre-school children's lives are enriched on a daily basis.

 

Some ways FMC has been involved:

  • Initiated the beginning of this program in Botswana by sending local staff to learn how to train others
  • Facilitated all trainings in Botswana by managing logistics and bringing in participants
Interested in more information on ...
– the Little Seeds programme? » Little Seeds
– supporting the Little Seeds training? » Current Projects

The Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana (EFB)

EFB is an association of over 600 churches and parachurch organisations throughout Botswana. In 2002 the leaders visited South Africa and observed the Evangelical Christian AIDS Programme (ECAP) which is training local pastors and churches to respond to the HIV and AIDS related needs in their communities. Inspired by the vision of ECAP, EFB has been motivated to define their role in HIV and AIDS work in Botswana. With training and equipping at its core, EFB has begun working to train and mobilize its member churches to respond to the HIV and AIDS crisis by being involved in prevention programmes and specifically youth-targeted prevention work.

Some ways FMC has been involved:

  • Facilitated the group's trip to visit ECAP in South Africa
  • Actively participated in the discussions helping to define EFB's vision for HIV and AIDS work
  • Helped to fund the multi-year HIV and AIDS pilot programs
Want more information on the Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana? » EFB






Rerotlhe Day Care Centre

While visiting her sister at a rural cattle post, Oshale was moved by the number of very young children she saw who were receiving little or no care. Oshale started working to find a way to begin a day care programme for these needy children so they could have a safe place to spend time, nutritious meals, attention from caring adults, stimulating activities and psychosocial support. Because the government only funds this type of program once they have a proven track record from several years of operation, it is very difficult to acquire the resources needed to start a child care program. After a year of hard work the centre has now rented a building, trained their volunteer workers in the basics of child care, and has obtained funding to outfit the centre with the essentials. The staff is currently going house-to-house, completing family assessments and meeting with the local social worker to create a list of children who will hopefully begin attending the centre by the end of the year.

Some ways FMC has been involved:

  • Worked with Oshale to set up an organisational structure, to write a business plan, and to discern a strategy for pulling together the necessary resources
  • Assisted in obtaining funding for the essentials: rent, toilets, a fitted kitchen, basic salaries, food, and the necessary furnishings (like tables and chairs)
  • Facilitated the training for the child care workers through the Little Seeds Programme
Interested in more information on ...
– supporting the Rerotlhe project? » Current Projects
– how you can get involved with any of our Partners? » Personnel needs