In response to the devastating impact of AIDS in the neighboring communities of Ufafa Valley, the Woza Moya Project was birthed in April 2000 by three individuals associated with both the Buddhist Retreat Center and the local community: Thanissara, Kittisaro and Sue Hedden. They have continued to remain intimately involved over the ensuing years with the unfolding of the project. Additionally, the project has received generous support from the San Francisco Insight community.

Situated on tribal land among the people it serves, the Woza Moya Project is a community-based and owned project, where:

• 78% of the people tested are HIV-positive
• 47% of pregnant women are HIV-positive
• 85% of the people are unemployed
• Poverty is widespread
• AIDS has changed the traditional family structure severely, leaving children without parents, and requiring grandparents to raise the young
• AIDS orphans are sometimes raising their siblings
• AIDS awareness is very low
• There is virtually no electricity, telecommunications or sanitation.
• The main source of water is a river and boreholes.

Woza Moya has a team of 30 people (6 full-time and 2 part-time staff and 24 community-care workers) serving over 6000 people in the rural communities of Ufafa Valley.

The project is firmly established and widely respected not only within the local communities, but among the network of non-government organizations in KwaZulu and within South Africa as a whole. It is considered a "model response" to the tragedy of AIDS in Africa.

Woza Moya provides service in the following areas:

• Orphan and vulnerable children intervention
• Home-based care
• HIV and AIDS information and counseling
• Food security
• Basic medicines
• Paralegal and advocacy services

 

Please review the Woza Moya Annual Report for 2010