space selamta
HCF logoclick to donate


Learn | Advocate | Volunteer | Volunteer in Africa | Become an Ambassador


Get Involved
"What are we going to tell our children about AIDS in the world? That we did not know? That we did not care?" -
-- A Closer Walk

The focus of the Selamta Family Project is family… The AIDS pandemic may seem insurmountable and vague, but here at the Selamta Family Project are AIDS orphans whom you can help. It is our vision to provide as much financial and emotional support as possible. There are many ways for you to get involved, please take a look at our options and contact us if you have any other ideas. Children can never have too many people love them.

 

pdfDownload our latest Newsletter

 

LEARN
Why Get Involved?
The scale of the AIDS orphan crisis is compounded by the time lag between HIV infection, death and orphaning. Even if all new HIV infections were to stop in Ethiopia today, the numbers of orphans would continue to rise for at least the next 10 years. Families structures are being eroded and traditional societal safety nets are unravelling as more young adults die. The old are often as vulnerable as the orphans, as they have likely depended on the same young people for support. Impoverished survivors are unable to care for the children left behind.

The vulnerability of AIDS orphans starts well before the death of a parent. The emotional suffering of the children begins with their parents' distress and progressive illness. This is compounded as the disease causes drastic changes in family structure resulting in a heavy economic toll, requiring children to become caretakers and breadwinners, and fuelling conflict as a result of stigma, blame and rejection. A parents death leaves children deprived of affection, attention, love and interpersonal and environmental stimulation which is damaging and traumatic. They experience grief, sorrow and feelings of loneliness and isolation and suffer psychological distress that can have long lasting effects.

Children grieving for dying or dead parents are stigmatised by society through association with HIV/AIDS. The distress and social isolation experienced by these children, both before and after the death of their parent(s), is strongly exacerbated by the shame, fear, and rejection that often surrounds people affected by HIV/AIDS. Because of this stigma and often-irrational fear surrounding AIDS, children may be denied access to schooling and health care. And once a parent dies, children particularly in the case of girls, may also be denied their inheritance and property. Often children who have lost their parents to AIDS are assumed to be infected with HIV themselves. This further stigmatises the children and reduces their opportunities in the future

ADVOCATE

  • Educate yourself and your community, tell a friend, write your congressman.
  • Every 8 seconds someone dies of AIDS
  • 96% of people living with AIDS do not have access to treatment
  • 99% of Africans do not have access to medical treatment

"Just imagine what is going to happen in Africa when there will be, let's say, 40 million orphans five to ten years from now because the parents have died from AIDS. I mean besides the individual tragedies, this means a destabilization of whole societies."
- Peter Piot, Executive Director, UNAIDS

AIDS is ravaging communities that have no voice in the global sphere. One of the most important ways to help is to educate yourself and others about the AIDS pandemic. AIDS appeared in the 1970's in North America and Haiti. Now the AIDS virus has ravaged communities in the poorest countries in the world. The world is no longer secular; we cannot ignore what happens on another continent. Please, tell a friend, write your congressional delegate, become an activist. It is up to you to change the world, your world.
If you are interested in learning how to become an advocate Human Capital Foundation suggests you visit the Global Health Council website. They provide the latest information on bills in congress, finding your congressman, and how to write a letter.

 

VOLUNTEER
Volunteer in Your Local Community Click here for an application.
Affect the global community with from where you are. Volunteer at your convenience. The following are just a few ideas.

  • Hold a Benefit or Fund Raiser for Necessities
    Put together your own fundraiser for the Human Capital Foundation. In the past, volunteers have held bake sales, dinner parties, and dances. Be creative and have fun. Our kids are growing fast. We need to keep up with underwear, shoes and blue jeans.
  • Change-for-Change Organize a fundraiser at your school, church or organization. Click here for details.
  • Host a showing of our documentary film Into Abyssinia Coordinate a showing to raise awareness about Ethiopia’s orphan crisis and become part of the solution.

Volunteer at Our OfficeClick here for an application.
If you live in the Upper Valley you have the option of giving us a hand at our office. Volunteer one day a week and help us keep our kids connected to their American sponsor families. We have letters, pictures and photos of the kids that we need to deliver to their American sponsor families. Help us keep the connections alive. Help us organize the many donations of clothing, books and toys for the kids. We can always use help to pack up the huge duffle bags for volunteers to take on their trips to Ethiopia.

 

VOLUNTEER IN ETHIOPIA
Travel to Ethiopia and work directly with the children. An experience you will never forget.

The Human Capital Foundation hires Ethiopian citizens to implement all of the care for the orphaned children. However, Human Capital Foundation recruits volunteers to travel to Addis to aid caregivers and children alike with friendship, sharing of skills and sponsorship opportunities. The Human Capital Foundation actively recruits professional and medical volunteers to travel to Addis to provide special services and training to increase the knowledge that would benefit the staff in better understanding the young children in care. If you are interested in visiting Selamta please contact us. We offer a group trip for three weeks in July. Volunteers are responsible for airfare and accommodations. Click here for an application.

Travel on a Volunteer Trip
Three times a year, we invite people who are interested in making a difference to join us on a volunteer trip that includes hands on work with the kids and thought leadership sessions on ways to improve our children’s lives. As a Selamta volunteer you can expect:

  • A life changing experience that will show our kids that you care.
  • The love of your new Selamta Family immediately upon arrival.
  • Cultural immersion into a fascinating country, rich with history.
  • Long days of working on projects and playing with the kids.
  • Long nights talking about how to make Selamta better.
  • Sleepless nights thinking about what happened during the day.
  • A heartfelt and tearful goodbye that comes too soon.
  • Being asked to continue to volunteer for Selamta stateside.
  • Making plans for a return trip as soon as possible!

Your trip is most likely to include all of the above moments...and more.

 

Become an Ambassador.
Our ambassador program is vital to the success of the Selamta Family Project. Traveling at their own expense our ambassadors donate their time and talent to the benefit of our children at Selamta. They live at Selamta for durations of 1 to 6 months and participate in formal and informal service-learning programs. Our ambassadors spend countless hours working as teaching assistants, tutors, mentors and attentive listeners for our children. Click here for an application.