About the orphans -
CLOUT Cares assists about 120 Kasavai orphans and children who have lost their father or father and mother to AIDS. These children usually live with their grandmother, aunt, older sister, or mother, if she survives. Some live without the care of any adult. Kasavai has no orpahnages.
Primary school students attend rudimentary schools where education is supposedly "free"; however, they must pay fees for uniforms, books, and supplies, which can easily cost as much as $100 per year. And often they have to pay for tutoring on the weekends or after school to make up for those parts of the mandatory curriculum not covered in class. Also, most primary schools do not have breakfast or lunch programs.
Although the government started providing a small subsidy to the high schools in 2008 for each student, the students and their families are still responsible for the lion's share of costs, which can be as much as $600 annually in local schools and much more in Provincial or National schools. Boarding schools provide regular meals, and students need not worry about endless chores at home or about the dangers that can be encountered on a long walk to and from school. So students can study at night, boarding schools also provide light, something not available at home. CLOUT Cares encourages all students to attend boarding school if their grades qualify them. Girls especially benefit from attending boarding schools where they can be protected from sexual pressures from older men.
In 2010, CLOUT Cares sent 32 orphans to high school. We are happy to report that 10 of these students graduated at the end of the year. In February of 2011, 20 additional AIDS orphans began high school, bringing the total number for 2011 to 42. One of these, Sally Bwari, is attending a National school for the second year in a row. She is doing vey well.
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