Reach-Out
Reach-Out is a community-based organization in Kochieng, Kenya providing for the basic needs of children left orphaned or vulnerable due to the AIDS epidemic. REACH-OUT links each family in the program with a sponsoring family in the U.S. Sponsorship supports these Reach-Out families by covering the costs of their education, health, and nutrition needs. By serving these needs, Reach-Out helps rebuild and regenerate a community ravaged by AIDS and serves as a model for other communities facing similar challenges.
Reach-Out supports hundreds of children between the ages of 1-15 in over 100 households. However there are many more orphans who still need sponsorship at this time. Many of these orphans live in households that are headed by children as young as 12 years of age. In orphan-led homes like these as well as in homes that adopt orphans, scarce family resources are spread thin, especially as the child-to-adult ratio increases. Severe malnourishment affects approximately 60% of these children. Under such conditions, providing for basic needs such as sufficient food and clothing for the family presents an enormous challenge. Paying for a child’s education becomes a financial burden on the family, and education is often the first of a child’s needs to be sacrificed. Children frequently work to contribute to the family income instead of continuing their education.
Education, however, is one of the most valuable ways vulnerable children can escape a cycle of disease, disadvantage, and poverty and pursue a productive and safe future. A community like Kochieng, so drastically affected by HIV/AIDS, can only really begin to recover when its children are provided with a free education. Education improves the children’s, and therefore the community’s, future while also decreasing yearly financial burdens on poor and orphan-led families.
Find Out More about Reach Out:
Reach Out has distributed a series of newsletters. To view current and archived newsletters, please go to the Publications page of this site, or click here for a list of Reach Out publications.
Donate to Reach Out:
Your donation to this project can make a difference in the lives of many who need the resources provided through the program. You may make an online donation or send us a check.
For online donations: Donations to Reach Out are distributed through the Task Force for Global Health. When making an online donation, please select Reach Out from the list of Task Force projects. After you make the online donation, please send us the Reach Out donation form (click here for the form) so we know which family and/or child you would like to support. You can make an online donation to Reach Out here.
For donations by check: If you prefer to send a check, please use the Reach Out Donation Form- it is available here. Complete the form and send it to the Task Force for processing. The donation form is also available in the Publications section of this website.
We appreciate your support. If you have questions or need more information, send us an email by clicking here.