The Botswana-Baylor Children’s Clinical Centre of Excellence (COE) was established in 2003 as a partnership between the Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) in Texas and the Government of Botswana. The COE supports children with HIV and their families through comprehensive care (including careful clinical care, home visits, and nutrition and counseling support). They also support several capacity-building initiatives, including health professional education (including physician mentorship) and layperson skill-building (including school teacher education, community-based HIV support, and adolescent-focused forums). After six years of operation, Botswana’s COE is serving as a model in comprehensive pediatric AIDS care for similar centers in Lesotho, Swaziland, Uganda, Malawi, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania. ~ learn more

The current health crisis in Botswana has created an overwhelming burden of care on already stressed extended family networks. Kgothatso Orphan Care Programme aims to relieve some of that stress for families in Gabane Village by providing pre-school care for orphaned and vulnerable children. The pre-school currently supports 20 village children with daily meals, educational activities and recreation. Kgothatso’s services respect the importance of maintaining the community’s social fabric by enabling extended families to provide for orphaned children adopted into their homes. With increased funding, Kgothatso hopes to expand services and to broaden its reach to additional vulnerable families in the community. ~ learn more

Otse Community Home Based Care provides palliative care, rehabilitative services and psychosocial support to people with HIV/AIDS and other terminal illnesses in Otse village. The center works to address lingering issues of denial and stigmatization that still create barriers to HIV prevention and education, as well as the poverty and lack of basic necessities that are common place in rural Botswana. In addition to palliative care, the center runs a number of craft workshops with the aim of teaching clients income-generating skills. ~ learn more

Tsholofelo Counseling and Support Centre is one of 11 centers operating under Botswana Christian Aids Intervention Programme, one of the oldest HIV/AIDS organizations in Botswana. Tsholofelo, like its mother organization, works through the institutional power of the church to affect positive behavior change, to educate the community, and to support people living with HIV/AIDS. While Tsholofelo receives basic funding from BOCAIP, the Centre is always in need of more resources to expand existing programs and to put new ideas into action. Future plans include the development of programs for orphans and vulnerable children. ~ learn more