DODOMA, Tanzania, JUNE 11, 2002 (Zenit.org).- The Adorers of the Blood of Christ have begun work on the construction of a “Village of Hope” in Tanzania for the treatment of HIV-positive patients and prevention of the spread of the disease, especially among children.
The village is a response to the problem of AIDS, one of the greatest challenges in this eastern Africa nation, noted a story on the Web page of the Vidimus Dominum service. HIV-positive orphans are often ostracized and abandoned.
The plan is that this village be the home for all of these children, who will live in family-style houses. Six of these are already being built. Each includes two apartments, which house eight to nine children of different ages, who will be looked after by an adoptive mother and, possibly, an adoptive father.
In addition to the construction of the apartments, the project includes a clinic to give temporary lodgings to AIDS patients who need treatment, and a laboratory/observatory.
An important point of the project, the Adorer nuns point out, is prevention.
“In the second or third part of the project … we will seek to reach out to children who still live with their parents or relatives in the area around us and supply them with necessary treatments and information directly on the spot,” the nuns said in a statement.
“Finally, we will attempt to educate them [in] responsible maternity through screening at the prenatal stage, in order to better advise women stricken by HIV in the treatment of newborns,” they added.
A nursery school and an elementary school are also planned for the Village of Hope. This project may become self-sufficient in its operations, because a large part of the staff involved will be nuns of the congregation or people who are already involved in other areas of the project.
The medicines and medical supplies will be covered by the contributions of people who will come form outside for checkups and treatment of normal diseases, who will pay for the services they receive. The tests, and some types of pharmaceuticals for HIV/AIDS treatment, will be supplied free-of-charge by the government.
The Village of Hope will be built about 6 kilometers from the central city of Dodoma. The Adorers of the Blood of Christ are still raising funds for the village.
