Luyanda George Ngonyama

Community Resilience Strategies: Challenges Faced by Orphans and Vulnerable Children Luyanda George Ngonyama

Evidence suggests that caring for orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV and AIDS remains one of the greatest challenges facing South Africa. The majority of these orphans live in rural and poor urban households. Caring for orphans and vulnerable children places severe strain on support systems, such as the extended family; this spills over into the community. Providing care and support also places an extra burden on the already overstretched welfare sector and drains state resources. The primarily objective of this study was to explore community resilience strategies on challenges faced by orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV and AIDS in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, Gauteng. A combination of data collection methods was employed in order to explore different perspectives of community resilience strategies on challenges faced by orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV and AIDS in Benoni. The success of this initiative confirms the importance of community driven interventions using the resilience framework to supports orphans and vulnerable, rather than dependency on the government imposed programmes- top down approach.