FIRELIGHT FOUND ATION

“Firelight Foundation has been so extraordinarily effective
as to win my lasting admiration.
My own Foundation will strive to be equally committed
in confronting the pandemic of HIV/AIDS.”
Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa
Founder, The Stephen Lewis Foundation
Firelight Foundation
510 Mission Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
United States of America
Phone: +1-831-429-8750
Fax: +1-831-429-2036
info@firelightfoundation.org
www.firelightfoundation.org
The Firelight Foundation is a private foundation located in Santa Cruz, California.
The Foundation incorporated in December 1999. The founding mission of Firelight Foundation
is to support the fundamental needs and rights of children struggling to grow up in the face of hardship.
FIRELIGHT FOUNDATION
FIRELIGHT FOUNDATION

Founding Story ......................................................... 3
The President’s Message ........................................... 4
Letter from the Director ............................................. 5
PROGRAMS
Mission & Focus ....................................................... 7
Grantmaking ........................................................... 8
Monitoring, Evaluation & Technical Assistance........... 10
Strategic Alliances .................................................. 12
Public Awareness & Donor Outreach ....................... 14
Youth Together Against AIDS ................................... 16
Funding Guidelines & Review Process ....................... 20
GRANTS 2000–2003
Cameroon ............................................................. 23
Ethiopia.................................................................. 25
Kenya .................................................................... 29
Lesotho ................................................................. 37
Malawi ................................................................... 39
Namibia ................................................................. 43
Rwanda .................................................................. 45
South Africa ............................................................ 51
Tanzania................................................................. 57
Uganda.................................................................. 61
United States .......................................................... 65
Zambia .................................................................. 69
Zimbabwe .............................................................. 79
Grant Awards by Year .............................................. 86
FINANCIALS & ABOUT US
Financial Information ............................................... 89
Donors ................................................................... 93
Board of Directors, Advisory Board, and Staff ............ 96
Volunteers ............................................................. 99
© tlmoody
MAKING A DIFFERENCE ................................... 101
Please note that this Annual Report covers the period from December 1, 1999 through September 30, 2003.

The Firelight Foundation was created in 1999 to support children orphaned and affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. Established by
Kerry Olson, Ph.D. and her husband, David Katz, a software engineer, the foundation reflects their shared sense of social
responsibility. As a private foundation, it is driven by the personal values of its founders to invest in the future of the world’s
most vulnerable children.
Firelight’s mission is a natural outgrowth of Kerry’s background as a child advocate, early childhood educator, and research
social scientist. Kerry’s life-long commitment began at the age of eight, when she was so moved by the hardships faced by
orphaned children internationally that she took the extraordinary action of organizing to raise money on their behalf. Once she
had experienced the joy of giving and the difference that an individual can make, her commitment was set. Throughout her
youth, Kerry organized community fundraisers, corresponded with relief workers in foreign countries, and volunteered on
behalf of children. In addition to earning a doctorate in education and developmental psychology, she served as the founding
director of two nonprofit childcare programs, coordinated programs for the Council for Prevention of Child Abuse and
Neglect, and conducted research in inner city schools.
When the Silicon Valley technology boom provided Kerry and Dave with the resources to form the Firelight Foundation, their
vision of working with children internationally expanded rapidly. “The sudden access to wealth brought with it an immediate
responsibility to share it and to direct it to an area of great need. When we looked at the global picture, we identified the
HIV/AIDS crisis as the intersection of the gravest issues facing the world’s most vulnerable children,” explains Kerry. “We
decided to focus our efforts where we felt our dollars were most needed and could have the greatest impact – Sub-Saharan
Africa.”
Starting with a clear vision, building a strong team of dedicated individuals, forging strategic alliances, and consulting with key
experts in the field enabled Firelight to launch a grantmaking program that quickly became effective in getting dollars to the
frontlines of the AIDS crisis. “It was shocking to learn how few funds ever make it to the community level in Africa,” Kerry
reflects. “As a small private foundation, we are able to be flexible and responsive in our approach, making small grants and
remaining respectful of community ownership.” With its focus on making grants directly to grassroots organizations that are
strengthening the capacity of communities and families to care for vulnerable children, Firelight has been lauded as an
innovative and effective partner in the battle against AIDS.
Firelight Foundation’s leadership reflects both deep personal values and broad professional and international experience.
While its Board of Directors is comprised of family members, Firelight’s international Advisory Board actively consults on grant
review and strategic planning. The Foundation’s staff brings vital on-the-ground experience with Africa, youth and HIV/AIDS,
and international grantmaking to its programs. The Firelight Foundation now reaches thousands of people in 12 African
countries. Partnerships with other foundations and private donors have helped Firelight increase its grant awards. “The scope
of the AIDS pandemic requires intervention on many different levels,” shares Kerry, “There is ample room for others to
contribute to this work. Our experience is testimony to the fact that even small dollar amounts can make a substantial
difference.”

It is an honor to share with you Firelight Foundation’s first annual report, covering our first four years of operation, 2000 through 2003.
My husband, David Katz, and I established the Firelight Foundation in December 1999 with the mission to support children who struggle
to grow up in the face of hardship. We have focused our giving on children orphaned and affected by AIDS in Africa, because the need
is so great. In the past decade, HIV/AIDS has posed unprecedented hardship on African children and
families. Of the over 13 million children who have been orphaned by AIDS globally, 90% live in Sub-
Saharan Africa. AIDS has robbed an overwhelming number of children of their parents, their homes, their
education, and their future. The statistics are staggering. The individual stories behind the numbers are
heartbreaking. Yet this situation, which many have called the moral crisis of our time, is far from hopeless.
© Cheryl Talley-Moon
How do you even begin to make a difference when faced with something as overwhelming as the
global impact of AIDS? The single most important lesson that we have learned is to never
underestimate the power of small grants given at the grassroots level. In four years, the
Firelight Foundation has awarded 173 grants to 120 community-based organizations serving
children made vulnerable by AIDS in 12 African countries.
In the following pages, you will read about the vital services that these organizations provide,
including ensuring children’s access to education, to psychosocial support and to family care,
assisting caregivers with income-generating activities, and providing HIV/AIDS prevention education.
We have also awarded grants to institutions and residential-care settings that are serving especially
vulnerable populations – HIV-positive infants and street children – while assisting these organizations in their efforts to
strengthen their ties to the community. We fund organizations that create their own solutions within their own communities.
We believe that effective grantmaking is a balance between responsible risk-taking, informed choices, and an underlying
respect for community ownership and the local context.
Firelight’s success as a grantmaker has been made possible through the efforts of a dedicated team of individuals – our
Director Jennifer Astone and the entire Firelight staff, our international Advisory Board, our volunteers, and our donors. In the
past year, generous donor support has greatly increased our giving. Most importantly, every dollar invested by Firelight is more
than matched by the tremendous dedication and commitment of the individuals and groups who are working each day as the
frontline response to AIDS. We hope that you will be inspired by the stories of hope and action that we share with you here.
We offer our most heartfelt thanks to all those who have joined Firelight in making a difference in the fight against AIDS and its
effects on children and their families. We can think of no greater investment than supporting communities in their efforts to
ensure that children are provided with the security, education, love, and support that every child deserves.
In appreciation,
Kerry Olson, Ph.D. – President and Founder

Dear Friends,
Over the past four years, Firelight has listened to children, youth, and parents in Africa talk about how HIV/AIDS affects their
families and communities. They have shared how it impacts their daily lives, intensifies poverty, and overwhelms extended
families. We have learned about how children are taking on the roles of adults and how communities are coping with illness,
stigma, and death. Their words speak clearly:
• “HIV/AIDS is seen as an adult problem, but the children are caregivers, are infected, and are
traumatized.”
• “Our communities are responding to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children every day. Help
us create wealth in the community so that they don’t have to turn away their own children.”
• “The campaign against HIV is not a one-month program, everyone needs to be involved. We need
materials, a public address system, vehicles, videos, etc.”
Firelight’s grants respond to these voices. Firelight funds local ideas to enhance community participation
and to address the needs of orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS. In the pages that
follow, you will read about how our grantee-partners develop innovative programs and build on existing
responses to these problems. Some of these responses are not obvious to the outside donor, such as when
a woman takes in her neighbor’s orphaned children. Or, they may challenge deeply held assumptions,
such as proving that HIV-positive caregivers are credit-worthy. These programs enable children to go to
school with dignity and enhance the spirit of volunteerism and giving within the community.
Firelight’s growth in the past four years has paralleled that of our grantee-partners. We started with a one-room office, a parttime
Administrative Assistant, Cheryl Talley-Moon and a volunteer Program Director, Tammy Moody. In April 2001, I joined the
team as Director. A year later, we moved into expanded offices, increased the international representation of our Advisory Board,
and hired additional program staff: Jennifer Anderson-Bähr, Senior Program Officer, and Caitlin Brune, Program Officer. As we
grew, we expanded our outreach through donor education, fundraising, and a pen pal exchange. Today we are poised to build
upon the effectiveness of our grantee-partners’ work through meetings, workshops, and our strategic alliances with other donors.
None of this would have been possible without the vision, guidance, and practical support of our founders Kerry Olson and
Dave Katz. Kerry has led the Foundation through an amazing process of growth and development, while keeping our vision
focused on children. Dave has provided us with computer and networking support, financial know-how, and practical insights.
Their wisdom and thoughtfulness are evident in everything we do.
Many people express astonishment at how much a small foundation has achieved in such a short time. For this Firelight thanks
our founders, donors, grantee-partners, board members, staff, volunteers, and colleagues. Firelight’s success is due to the
relationships we have established with extraordinary individuals. As you will read in the following pages, it is these courageous
individuals who are creating hope for children and their families in the face of HIV/AIDS.
Warmly,
Jennifer Astone, Ph.D. – Director
© Jennifer Anderson-Bähr

… investing in the strength and resiliency of children
… supporting and advocating for children’s fundamental human rights
… funding effective grassroots organizations serving children
… strengthening the safety net of family and community
… respecting local leadership
… fostering youth participation
… employing speed, simplicity, and flexibility in grantmaking
… documenting and monitoring impact
… promoting collaboration and information exchange
… engaging in innovative approaches to problem solving
… listening and learning

The mission of the Firelight Foundation is to support children in need.
The Firelight Foundation is based on the premise that every child, regardless of race, religion, or
nationality deserves the promise of a future. Every child deserves to be provided with a safe environment,
adequate food, health services, shelter, a sound education, and a supportive family system. Yet for many
children, these basic needs and rights are denied or threatened due to poverty, disease, prejudice, natural
disaster, or political unrest.
PROGRAMS
Children are our hope for the future. It is the goal
of the Firelight Foundation to help create a better
future for children.
The Firelight Foundation has selected the needs
of children who are orphaned or affected by
HIV/AIDS as our central focus. In the past decade,
this issue has become a global problem of epic
proportions. Our geographic focus is Sub-Saharan
Africa, where the HIV/AIDS pandemic has robbed
a staggering number of children of their parents,
their homes, their education, and their future. The
Firelight Foundation works to address the needs
of children who are orphaned or affected by
HIV/AIDS through five areas of interrelated
activities:
• Grantmaking
• Monitoring, Evaluation & Technical Assistance
• Strategic Alliances
• Public Awareness & Donor Outreach
• Youth Together Against AIDS/Pen Pal Exchange
Boy at Fountain of Hope Centre, Lusaka, Zambia
© tlmoody

PROGRAMS
Our grantmaking approach is child-centered, family-focused, and community-based. Throughout Africa, grassroots
organizations are strengthening the traditional safety nets of the extended family and community through a range of programs.
Firelight supports these efforts by providing one-year initial grants of $500 to $10,000 to organizations that support the needs
and rights of children affected by HIV/AIDS. The Firelight Foundation makes regrants up to $15,000 to partner organizations
based on funding needs and a program’s potential for a wider application.
WHO WE FUND AND WHY
Local communities and organizations provide the frontline response to 90% of the children who are orphaned or made
vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. Yet very few funds are reaching the grassroots organizations, where even small dollar amounts
can make a tremendous difference. The Firelight Foundation seeks to support community-based, under-funded organizations
and initiatives. These are the groups that can best identify the needs in their own communities and come up with their own
dynamic solutions. We have found that getting our dollars directly to the “ground,” where communities know children’s needs
and are familiar with the caregivers, is the best use of our resources. We look for programs that have local leadership, engage
the community in creating solutions to problems, and build on the capacity of a community to address its own needs.
We prefer to fund programs that include youth participation in decision-making and leadership. Youth can more easily influence
and reach their peers and are effective advocates for social change. They have optimism and energy, and care for adults and
children with determination and will. Programs that develop leadership, experience, and knowledge among youth create a ripple
effect. Young leaders inspire and educate other youth and help communities prepare for the long-term impact of HIV/AIDS.
Many of the organizations that we fund are small and new to the foundation funding world. Firelight believes in taking
responsible risks by funding organizations that offer innovative solutions to specific problems in their communities. Firelight has
created a straightforward set of narrative and financial reporting guidelines, and provides training in how to fulfill these
guidelines in order to enable organizations to develop their skills and meet these requirements.
WHERE WE FUND AND WHY
Since our incorporation in December 1999, Firelight has made 173 grants to 120 organizations, totaling more than 1.8
million US dollars in support. Grants have been awarded to organizations in the United States and in 12 countries of Africa:
Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In
our first year (2000), we accepted unsolicited proposals from locally-run organizations in any country in Sub-Saharan Africa.
By 2002, we were inundated with proposals and needed to concentrate our grantmaking in countries that had limited access
to funding resources and that allowed staff to travel efficiently. Consequently, we stopped accepting unsolicited proposals from
Kenya and Uganda, since those countries have greater access to donors (we continue to consider existing grantee-partners’
regrant proposals and invited proposals). We also stopped accepting unsolicited proposals from Namibia, Cameroon, and
Ethiopia because of the difficulty of traveling to a number of dispersed countries and our limited staff resources. We currently
accept applications from Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The Firelight Foundation pursues a strategy of funding gaps. Each year our staff prepares a country analysis that includes data
on current donors, access to funding for locally-run organizations, and level of need. Lesotho was added to our roster of

funded countries in 2002 when we became aware of the high percentage of children affected by AIDS in that country and the
lack of funding for programs to address their needs. We work closely with our Board to ensure that we direct our dollars to
where they will have the greatest impact.
HOW MUCH WE GIVE
After two years of grant awards, Firelight capped first-time grant awards at $10,000 and regrants at $15,000. We have learned
that smaller grants are less likely to overwhelm a new organization and stifle local initiative. Smaller grants also help ensure that an
organization does not become dependent on one source of funding. In order to support organizational growth and development
over time, we now make more regrants and multi-year grants than we did in the first years of Firelight’s grantmaking. In helping to
support the sustainability of the organizations we fund, we also favor those that have strong local support as demonstrated through
volunteer labor, in-kind support, increased local capacity, strong networking, and active partnerships.
PROGRAMS
WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED
Firelight has learned a great deal from our African grantee-partners about the value of grassroots change. We have learned
that the most successful change starts from the ground up. We have learned to measure success in increments, and that small
steps over a long period of time lead to larger achievements. We have learned that community groups can inspire action and
create a domino effect in broadening responses to critical problems. And, we have learned that community-driven social
change is indeed influencing the way nations tackle the issues surrounding HIV/AIDS.
Principles for Programming
The Firelight Foundation follows the shared principles set forth in the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child and the “Principles for
Programming,” developed by the UN, USAID, and international development organizations in consultation with local community-based organizations.
1. Strengthen the protection and care of orphans and other vulnerable children within their extended families and communities.
2. Strengthen the economic coping capacities of families and communities.
3. Enhance the capacity of families and communities to respond to the psychosocial needs of orphans, vulnerable children, and their caregivers.
4. Link HIV/AIDS prevention activities, care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS, and efforts to support orphans and other vulnerable children.
5. Focus on the most vulnerable children and communities, not only those orphaned by AIDS.
6. Give particular attention to the roles of boys and girls, and men and women, and address gender discrimination.
7. Ensure the full involvement of young people as part of the solution.
8. Strengthen schools and ensure access to education.
9. Reduce stigma and discrimination.
10. Accelerate learning and information exchange.
11. Strengthen partners and partnerships at all levels and build coalitions among key stakeholders.
12. Ensure that external support strengthens and does not undermine community initiative and motivation.

PROGRAMS
As a new foundation making small grants, Firelight employs a variety of methods to ensure that our grant funds are used
responsibly and effectively. We need to know that our funds have a real, quantifiable impact in helping those in need. But, we
believe that it takes more than written reports to document and ensure the success of the organizations and programs we fund.
For this reason, we use a diversity of strategies to track our grantee-partners’ progress and improve their capacity to report on
their work.
The following methods help us to monitor, evaluate, and
assist our grantee-partners:
PROVIDE NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
Like all foundations, Firelight has narrative and financial
reporting requirements. However, many of Firelight’s
grantee-partners are receiving grant awards from an
international donor for the first time. Firelight staff works
with an organization’s leadership during site visits and
holds national and regional networking meetings to discuss
how to document their programs and organizational
development. At these day-long meetings, staff also
encourage grantee-partners to share lessons they have
learned and exchange ideas about programming.
Additionally, we offer assistance to new applicants with the
grant application process.
Observation by Jennifer Anderson-Bähr, Senior Program Officer
WORK WITH LOCAL EXPERTS AND RESOURCE PEOPLE
Firelight staff visits Africa several times annually to identify potential grantee-partners and to visit existing grantee-partners and
observe their programs. In each country, we also meet with the local experts, advocates, and leaders who work on children’s
issues, to develop a network of advisors. As the number of grant awards and grantee-partners has grown, we have started to
engage these local experts to assess new applicants and visit groups and conduct baseline assessments on our behalf. These
assessments help us evaluate the effectiveness of our grantmaking and the programs we fund.
SPONSOR ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
Most of the organizations supported by Firelight are developing their programs in response to the increasing needs brought
on by HIV/AIDS. They encounter “growing pains” as they face new challenges and evolve. In 2003, Firelight launched a

series of capacity-building workshops to assist
organizations in developing their management
and programmatic skills. Workshops are tailored
to the participants’ needs, as identified in a preworkshop
assessment and needs analysis.
Firelight identifies an Africa-based nongovernmental
organization to provide the
training. In October 2003, the first week-long
workshop, co-funded by Firelight and facilitated
by a Nairobi-based organization will cover
governance and management, documentation,
financial management and program design,
among other topics. Firelight is also planning a
workshop focused on developing youth
leadership skills.
ENHANCE COMMUNICATION
AMONG GRANTEE-PARTNERS
Firelight produces a newsletter for our granteepartners.
The newsletter includes examples of
successful programs and approaches that granteepartners
have implemented, as well as HIV/AIDS
information, grant programs, and other resources.
Firelight also ensures that grantee-partners receive
materials and books such as, HIV, Health, and Your
Community (Hesperian Foundation: Berkeley, CA),
and Building Resiliency Among Children Affected
by HIV/AIDS (Catholic AIDS Action: Windhoek,
Namibia). These written materials provide
information to organizations that lack access to
web-based resources.
Networking meeting for Zambian grantee-partners
Anonymous, Barcelona Meeting
© Jennifer Astone
PROGRAMS
FOSTER PARTNERSHIPS
The Firelight Foundation assists with grantee-partner exchanges to facilitate their organizational development, to strengthen
their base of support, and to enhance their programs. These exchanges, which include site visits to each other’s programs,
help similar community-based organizations find mentors, share findings, and learn from one another.

PROGRAMS
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has placed an enormous burden on communities and poses a tremendous challenge to foundations.
As a private foundation working to alleviate the impact of the pandemic upon children in Sub-Saharan Africa, we aim to share
information and ideas with our peer organizations. We believe that a sustainable solution will require more than any one
organization’s individual efforts.
Firelight forms strategic alliances with philanthropic, educational, governmental, civic, and religious groups that share a focus
similar to ours. These alliances extend the impact of our individual efforts by facilitating information exchange, enabling joint
advocacy on key issues, and encouraging the leveraging of funds.
MEETINGS
The Firelight Foundation has found that bringing together the organizations and funders that work on children’s issues in Africa
provides important opportunities to exchange ideas and information. We have hosted dinners and meetings during a number
of international conferences. In June 2001, the Firelight Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the African Services
Committee co-hosted a meeting during the Special Session of the UN General Assembly on HIV/AIDS: Global Crisis, Global
Action. The meeting gathered foundation and non-governmental organization representatives to discuss programs that
address children affected by AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.
© Jennifer Anderson-Bähr
Friends of Firelight dinner with grantees, staff, donors and other colleagues, held during the International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa
(ICASA) in Nairobi, Kenya, September 2003

Subsequent meetings convened by the Firelight Foundation
have brought together Advisory Board members, staff,
grantee-partners, and representatives from other private
foundations to discuss issues facing children affected by
AIDS. One notable gathering, held in New York in October
of 2002, focused on the issues of institutional care and
alternatives for children. This successful meeting brought
together 23 members of philanthropic, educational,
governmental, civic, and religious organizations to discuss
the limitations of institutional care in meeting the needs of
children affected by AIDS.
PROGRAMS
PRESENTATIONS
Firelight’s founders and staff are regularly asked to make
remarks and presentations at conferences sponsored by
organizations such as The Global Philanthropy Forum,
Grantmakers without Borders, the Council on Foundations,
Rob Buchanan, Director, International Programs,
Council on Foundations
and the World Bank. Topics have included “Finding Effective Philanthropic Solutions to the Growing AIDS Pandemic in Africa,”
“Small Grants for Social Change in Africa,” “Residential and Crisis Care for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children,” and
“Funding Challenges and Choices.”
In November 2002, Kerry Olson presented the opening speech at the West Coast premier screening of Rory Kennedy’s
documentary film, PANDEMIC: Facing AIDS. The event was sponsored by the Global Philanthropy Forum, and preceded a
day-long gathering of foundation leaders, individual donors, non-governmental organizations, and significant HIV/AIDS
scholars who met to discuss opportunities for international philanthropy geared to changing the course of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic.
MEMBERSHIPS
Firelight is a member of and participates in meetings held by the African Grantmakers Affinity Group, The Council on
Foundations, Funders Concerned About AIDS, Grantmakers without Borders, and Northern California Grantmakers.

PROGRAMS
The Firelight Foundation is committed to sharing the work of our grantee-partners and the issues facing children and
families affected by HIV/AIDS with a wider audience. Firelight uses a variety of strategies to raise public awareness and
to promote donor giving. Through our publications, website, fundraising activities, outreach events, and Youth Together
Against AIDS/Pen Pal Exchange, we aim to increase knowledge and
support of the rights and needs of children and communities affected by
HIV/AIDS.
We produce informational materials describing our mission and
activities, including a website, a grants list, a brochure, and materials
describing our programming principles and application process. These
resources also identify ways that individuals can make a difference in the
lives of African children and communities coping with HIV/AIDS. Starting
in 2003 Firelight has produced an annual calendar featuring images of
children, with the aim of celebrating children’s rights, resiliency, and
inherent potential. These materials are distributed to grantee-partners,
our network of peer organizations, and interested individuals. They also
help Firelight respond to the many inquiries we receive about how to
help children in need.
Firelight Brochure
Through the Youth Together Against AIDS/Pen Pal Exchange (described on
pages 16-19), Firelight also promotes HIV/AIDS awareness and activism
and fosters dialogue between youth in the United States and Africa.
Globally, young people aged 15-24 represented 42% of all new HIV
infections in 2002. We view the Youth Together Against AIDS peer
exchanges as important contributions toward the goal of an “AIDS-free
generation.”
Lastly, Firelight holds periodic fundraising and outreach events featuring
speakers from our Advisory Board and visiting grantee-partners. These
events allow people working in different African communities to share their
stories of how HIV/AIDS affects children and what community-based
organizations are doing to respond.
2000–2002 Grants List
In September 2002, Kerry Olson hosted a luncheon in Santa Fe, New
Mexico. Approximately 40 guests gathered to hear Firelight Advisory Board
Member Beatrice Were of the National Association of Women Living with
AIDS in Uganda (NACWOLA) share her experiences developing the
memory book program and living as an HIV-positive mother.

In March 2003, Firelight Advisory Board members Geoff Foster, Natasha
Martin, and Tim Jackson shared their experiences of working with
Firelight. They described the power of small grants given at the grassroots
level to effect positive, lasting changes in the lives of vulnerable children
and their caregivers. More than 30 guests attended this gathering in Los
Gatos, California.
PROGRAMS
In May 2003, Mary Makokha, founder and director of the Rural Education
and Economic Enhancement Programme (REEP), and Advisory Board
Member Natasha Martin spoke at a donor event in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The Firelight Foundation gratefully accepts donations from the public. For
more information on how to support Firelight, please refer to the Making
a Difference section of this report (pages 101-103), or contact us at
info@firelightfoundation.org.
www.firelightfoundation.org
Fully 100% of donations received are applied to our grantmaking programs; all overhead and administrative costs
are covered by our endowment.
2003 Calendar

PROGRAMS
Pen Pal Exchange
In the 2000-2001 school year, Firelight initiated a pen pal exchange between a California high school and a group of South
African children from an after-school program in Alexandra, a township near Johannesburg. The success of the exchange led to
an expansion, and it now involves more than 500 young people in 2 U.S. schools and 5 African countries. Through their pen pal
correspondence, these students from vastly different backgrounds get a more intimate feel for life on a continent unlike their own.
© Jennifer Anderson-Bähr/Jennifer Astone
Children from the AFXB After School Program in South Africa, who participate in the Pen Pal Exchange
The first letters typically start off with introductions and getting-to-know-you information about families, friends, schools, and
interests. After the second or third letter, more significant information is exchanged. Quite frequently, African participants have
described the impact of the HIV/AIDS crisis in their countries, often in personal ways. As a Rwandan Pen Pal Exchange
facilitator points out, “Frankly, children like talking to their peers and explaining the circumstances leading to the death of their
parents, i.e. war, genocide, and HIV/AIDS, with
Pen Pal Exchange Participants
much openness.”
U.S
.S. . Partners
artners :
African Partners
artners:
Anzar High School, California
Pacific Collegiate School, California
Scotts Valley High School, California
Association François Xavier Bagnoud, South Africa
Benishyaka Association, Rwanda
Cameroon National Family Welfare Association, Cameroon
Centre for Environment and Technology Development, Uganda
Kibera Community Self Help Programme, Kenya
National Association of Women Living with AIDS, Uganda
WEM Integrated Health Services, Kenya
Zambian Red Cross Society, Zambia
Most of the American teens participate through
their high school history or English classes or
extracurricular clubs. The exchange program
helps them understand the daily challenges
facing youth in Africa. Many of the African teens
participate through after-school programs or
youth clubs operated by Firelight’s granteepartners.
The Pen Pal Exchange has helped these
children feel that a wider world cares about their
problems. More importantly, the letter writing has
helped them communicate about difficult

circumstances in their lives. One of the young people participating in the
program in Rwanda observed, “… above all, we know we are not alone in the
war against AIDS, which gives us strength to work even harder.”
YOUTH PHILANTHROPY WORLDWIDE
In September 2002, Youth Philanthropy Worldwide
(YPW), a Berkeley, California-based group, partnered
with the Firelight Foundation to coordinate the Pen
Pal Exchange as well as to provide Pen Pal
Exchange Coordinators with curriculum support in
a project called Youth Together Against AIDS.
In addition to the letter exchange, YPW leads participants through a
completely youth-driven grantmaking activity. First, the teens brainstorm
about various ways to educate their peers and their community about
HIV/AIDS. Then each group writes a proposal that includes a budget of up to
$250 to pursue their favorite strategy. The next step is a peer review of the
proposals by the youth groups. After analyzing and ranking the proposals,
the youth groups send them back to YPW to tally the results. Grant awards
are made to those projects deemed best according to the students’ ranking.
The first review process awarded funds to three innovative projects: a youthhosted
radio call-in show in Cameroon, a forum of young people and
traditional elders in Kasese, Uganda, and an outreach program aimed at the
public frequenting taxi
stands in a densely
populated township in
South Africa.
I liked it before you knew
We were buddies
We hugged and kissed
We shared pizza
We swam together
But it has all changed now
Now that you know
I had it long before you knew
And we were so close and now you can’t
bear to look at me anymore
You feel hurt you feel betrayed
You feel sorry for me and you can’t
deal with it
But what has really changed
The only thing that has changed
between us is you
Because now you know
I am a different person
Because I have it
I am the one who has to deal with it
You can’t get it
You don’t get it
You can’t judge me, condemn me because of this
There is only one judge who decides.
Nompumelelo Shembe (age 14, South Africa)
PROGRAMS
© Michele Hutton
Students from Pacific Collegiate School, Santa Cruz,
California, writing letters to their African pen pals
Programs like Youth Together Against AIDS/Pen Pal Exchange allow
young people to educate each other about issues facing our global
community in a very personal and powerful way. Giving youth an
opportunity to design and implement projects through the grantmaking
activity teaches them that their ideas are significant, and that a small
amount of money combined with their creative energy can foster
positive social change. Through these efforts, we hope to inspire an
interest in social justice in young people and a life-long passion to work
toward a better world.

PROGRAMS
Pen Pal Exchange

PROGRAMS

PROGRAMS
Below are the funding guidelines and a description of the review process that Firelight Foundation has used to solicit and
award proposals from organizations working with orphans and vulnerable children. Staff and Advisory Board Members have
annually revised these guidelines and this process during the past four years to more clearly reflect the Foundation’s goals and
to clarify our funding criteria. Please refer to our website for the most updated version of the guidelines and application
process.
FUNDING CRITERIA
The mission of the Firelight Foundation is to support children in need. We believe every child, regardless of race, religion,
gender, or country deserves the promise of a future. Our focus is children affected by AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. We give
one-year grants of $500 to $10,000 to community-based initiatives that work directly and effectively to support the
fundamental needs and rights of children (birth to 21 years) orphaned or affected by HIV/AIDS. We believe that grassroots
initiatives arising in direct response to real needs within a local community are often the most effective programs. Firelight
supports this vital work with initial one-year grants and subsequent one-year and multi-year regrants based on funding needs
and opportunities for shared learning. Because we have limited funds, we favor organizations that raise resources from within
their local communities.
THE FIRELIGHT FOUNDATION LOOKS FOR
• Programs that directly serve the needs of vulnerable children
• Grassroots responses to needs that raise resources within the community
• Programs that demonstrate strong leadership and community ownership
• Organizations with a history of effective community action
• Programs in which children take part in decision-making, advocacy, and leadership
• Innovative responses to the situations of children affected by HIV/AIDS
The Firelight Foundation believes that children develop best when raised within families and communities; therefore, we rarely
fund orphanages. In exceptional cases there may be compelling reasons why institutional care is in the best interest of a child.
Such programs must clearly indicate these reasons in their application. We are often asked for food aid, medical care, and
housing. We understand the urgency of these needs, but we are not a relief agency or a health service provider and only fund
these areas when they are combined with programs that meet community needs in a broader context. If such assistance is
requested, we ask the applicant to explain how the planned activities will be addressed in a sustainable and integrated way.
ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES
LESOTHO, MALAWI, RWANDA, SOUTH AFRICA, TANZANIA, ZAMBIA, AND ZIMBABWE
The primary geographic focus of our grantmaking is Sub-Saharan Africa, the current epicenter of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In
order for us to focus our efforts in an effective and sustained manner, we have narrowed our grantmaking to certain countries,
and only accept letters of inquiry from: Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. We decline
inquiries from other countries unless they have already received a Firelight grant or are asked for a proposal.

AREAS OF INTEREST
Areas of interest include the following programs supporting children affected by HIV/AIDS:
• Programs that enhance or create a supportive
environment for children’s growth and development
• Primary and secondary education with an integrated
approach to children’s needs
• Vocational education and skills development
• Income-generating activities for caregivers and
independent orphans
• Programs that contribute to social and behavioral
change
• Recreational activities/counseling/programs
focusing on psychosocial support
• Sexual abuse prevention and treatment
• Programs that provide leadership opportunities for
children
• Respite or residential care and/or medical treatment
for HIV-infected children, including palliative and
hospice care and home-based programs
• Guardianship planning and related legal aid
advocacy
• Programs that reach marginalized populations,
including street children, child-headed households,
disabled children, or HIV-positive babies and
children.
Boys in Zambia
© tlmoody
PROGRAMS
AREAS NOT FUNDED
Firelight does not fund individuals, organizations or programs designed to influence legislation or elect public officials,
programs that limit participation based on race, religion, gender, or nationality, academic or medical research, or
fundraising drives or endowments. We rarely fund U.S.-based organizations or branches of international non-governmental
organizations.

PROGRAMS
THE DECISION PROCESS
Firelight reviews proposals and awards grants every six months. In our first year, when we were relatively unknown, we primarily
funded organizations recommended to us through our Advisory Board or trusted advisors. After the first year, Firelight began
receiving a large number of proposals from a variety of contacts. During the three-year period from 2001 through 2003, we
received an average of 300 funding requests per year and awarded an average of 55 grants per year, for a funding rate of
20%. We have found that our pool of applicants has changed over time, reflecting our shifting geographic focus and our
increasing visibility in the field of community-based funding for children affected by AIDS.
Firelight has always had the goal of making our application process simple and accessible to grassroots organizations. During
our first three years, we requested that organizations submit a full application of roughly 5-10 pages in length. In order to
decrease the administrative burden on unsuccessful applicants and to limit the number of full proposals needing extensive
review, we instituted a two-page letter of inquiry process in 2003.
The staff analyzes proposals according to our funding criteria and country strategy documents. They engage in a due
diligence process that includes a thorough review of an applicant’s organizational management, past and proposed
activities, and budgetary information. They prepare
proposal summaries that include an overall
assessment of the application based on references
from our in-country assessors, referees, and donors
familiar with the applicant group. Our Advisory
Board reviews these summary recommendations and
then makes a final recommendation for funding to
the Board of Directors.
GRANT AWARDS
Since the Firelight Foundation is a private foundation
that makes overseas grants, we have detailed
contract and reporting requirements for successful
applicants. In order to receive grant funds,
organizations must sign a grant contract, complete an
affidavit of their charitable status, and provide
financial information and a copy of their by-laws. All
grantee-partners receiving funds from Firelight
commit to regular financial and narrative reporting
on the grant award.
© Karen Ande
Grandfather takes his grandchildren for a ride, Kenya

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 15.2 million
Population under age 18 7.6 million
HIV adult seroprevalence 12%
Orphans as percent of all children 11%
Total number of orphans 708,000
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 30%
Total Firelight funding $50,000
Number of grants given 3
Number of grantee-partners 2
Percent of grantees regranted 50%
CAMEROON MEDICAL WOMEN ASSOCIATION (CMWA), Bamenda
2003 – $10,000 CMWA was started by a group of women doctors to
address the needs of children affected by HIV/AIDS.
The organization offers direct support and services such
as school fees and medical care, and training for teenage orphans in mechanics,
tailoring, and hair styling. Firelight supports a scholarship program for 40 children in primary and
secondary school as well as 10 children in a vocational skills training program. The grant also covers the
children’s medical care, food, and clothing. In addition, Firelight sponsors an educational exchange with
a peer organization to encourage their organizational and programmatic development.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
2001 – $20,000 This grant supports a scholarship program for 30 children in primary and secondary school and 10
children in a vocational skills training program. The grant also covers the children’s medical care, food
and clothing.
NORTH AMERICAN BAPTIST CONFERENCE (CBC), Bamenda
2001 – $20,000 Funds support the development of an orphan care and outreach program to complement a prevention
of mother-to-child-transmission program funded by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
Firelight funds are providing 50 orphans with medical care and basic needs. The funds also cover the
costs of a child welfare
coordinator’s salary, training
for family caregivers, office
expenses, educational
materials, and travel costs.
© Jennifer Astone
Woman-run bicycle spare parts business in Kenya, sponsored by REEP

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 64.5 million
Population under age 18 33.3 million
HIV adult seroprevalence 6%
Orphans as percent of all children 13%
Total number of orphans 3.84 million
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 26%
Total Firelight funding $32,500
Number of grants given 3
Number of grantee-partners 3
Percent of grantees regranted 0%
GLOBAL STRATEGIES FOR HIV PREVENTION, Nairobi/Addis Ababa
2002 – $5,000 Global Strategies operates worldwide, creating alliances with those who work to prevent HIV, especially
among women and children. This grant enables them to work with People to People, an Ethiopian
grassroots organization, to train community-based health workers on effective strategies for mobilizing a
greater response around HIV prevention and care of people living with AIDS.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
© Caitlin Brune
Tanzanian grantee-partner meeting, September 2003
HOPE FOR CHILDREN ORGANIZATION (HFC), Addis Ababa
2003 – $10,000 HFC engages the community to support families affected by HIV/AIDS. They believe that by showing
how HIV/AIDS affects children through the children’s own eyes, that they will be able to call
attention to children’s needs and rights. This grant enables HFC to partner with a documentary
photographer to teach children how to express their experiences of orphanhood and HIV/AIDS using
photography. The children’s photos will help raise awareness locally and internationally of the
challenges these children face.
JERUSALEM CHILDREN AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION (JECCDO), Addis Ababa
2003 – $15,000 Since 1985, JeCCDO (formerly known as Jerusalem Association of Children’s Homes) has provided
residential care for abandoned children. For the past eight years, they have led an effort to
deinstitutionalize their orphanages by reunifying children with their families and integrating older children
into the community. As an experienced service-providing organization, JeCCDO advises and offers
technical support to community-based organizations that work with children in crisis. Firelight funds
enable JeCCDO to make small grants to five emerging community-based organizations that provide
direct services to vulnerable children.

eny a child an education, and she is excluded from access to the written word, the skills she needs to earn a living,
and the chance to create a future that can break the cycle of poverty. In Africa, education can also give a young girl
or boy the information they need to help stem the spread of AIDS that is devastating their families and communities.
When children have the opportunity to go to school, they have a chance at a sound future.
Most countries in Africa require that families pay school fees for
their children’s education, as well as for uniforms and supplies.
But many parents don’t have enough money for their children’s
food and clothing, let alone pencils or school fees. Increasing
numbers of children are forced to leave school to care for ill
family members or siblings or because their parents can no
longer work and pay the school fees. These children need more
than a scholarship – they need to be able to go to school with
dignity, with clothes on their backs, and with food in their
stomachs. Firelight supports organizations with a holistic
approach to education for orphans and other vulnerable children.
We call it “Education Plus,” and we look to fund organizations
that embrace this philosophy.
Education Plus programs may provide school fees to secure a place
for a child in school. But they also provide other types of services,
such as emotional support to a child who has just lost a parent, or
teacher training to address issues of stigma in the classroom.
Education Plus programs may send a caregiver into a child’s home
to help care for an ailing parent, freeing the child to attend school.
They may provide food and uniforms for children who lack them.
Education Plus programs often provide children with critical
information on HIV/AIDS prevention. Taken together, these
strategies meet children’s physical, intellectual, social, and
emotional needs. Education Plus programs both keep children in
school and help them succeed.
Proud recipients of uniforms from Catholic AIDS Action
Catholic AIDS Action (CAA) in Namibia used Firelight funding to
pay school fees and procure school uniforms over three years
enabling 950 children to attend school. In many cases, these
uniforms were the first new articles of clothing that these children
had ever owned. CAA realized that uniforms were a critical
component of African children’s readiness for school: “Without a

uniform, children are not admitted to school or are told to sit
in the back of the class. With uniforms they walk into school
with their heads held high,” said Diana Liyambo, CAA’s
orphan specialist. “They carry big smiles on their faces, feeling
proud and happy. Best of all, they feel included, and this is a
good attitude for the school year.” CAA also offers children
bereavement counseling and encourages teacher sensitivity to
help integrate students into their school environments.
The Kibera Community Self Help Programme (KICOSHEP)
is another excellent example of an organization that fosters
Education Plus. Anglican minister Anne Owiti founded
KICOSHEP to help community members cope with the impact
of AIDS in Kibera, one of Africa’s largest urban slums in
Nairobi, Kenya. Orphans in Kibera face not only the
devastating loss of their parents and lack of education, but
daily challenges related to poor housing, hygiene, and
nutrition. In response, KICOSHEP created a community school
out of iron sheets. “The modest appearance of the school
belies the important role it plays in the community,” Anne
Owiti writes. “School is the only hope for a better life for the
450 pupils, most of whom have lost parents to AIDS.”
Education is tied into volunteerism at the school so that
students who benefit also serve the community (see Caroline
Omondi’s profile, page 31). The school’s staff teach classes,
serve lunch, give medical care, provide recreational activities,
and offer regular counseling. “Our school is different from
other schools,” says one 13-year-old student, “because we are A young KICOSHEP school student enjoys his lunch
given lunch, clothes, shoes, and pens. We are also treated
[for] free when we fall sick.” Students at KICOSHEP formed a youth group to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and have
organized neighborhood clean-ups. A Girls’ Club helps adolescent girls learn valuable life skills that contribute to their
mental, physical, and sexual health. Together, KICOSHEP students and teachers are making a difference throughout the
community.
© Karen Ande
Access to education creates real opportunities for children. But for school to be a positive experience where children learn
and want to remain, many students need more. Organizations like KICOSHEP and CAA offer valuable approaches to
understanding how to ensure the long-term success of young students.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 31.3 million
Population under age 18 15.9 million
HIV adult seroprevalence 15%
Orphans as percent of all children 12%
Total number of orphans 1.66 million
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 54%
Total Firelight funding $345,850
Number of grants given 29
Number of grantee-partners 14
Percent of grantees regranted 71%
CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF KITUI, Kitui
2001 – $15,000 The Catholic Diocese of Kitui is a community-based program that offers awareness raising, nutritional
support, and other types of assistance to those affected by HIV/AIDS. This grant covers the costs (trainers,
materials, and transportation) of sending 150 children to a workshop to address the stigma associated
with HIV/AIDS. It also funds the formation of peer support groups and the participation of the children’s
parents in planning property succession and writing wills.
2001 – $5,000 This grant pays to train social workers and orphans, purchase medicine, and provide other social
programs for vulnerable children.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
GLOBAL STRATEGIES FOR HIV PREVENTION, Nairobi & Kendu Bay
2002 – $2,200 Global Strategies for HIV Prevention operates throughout the world to create partnerships with those who
work to prevent HIV and who share a commitment to alleviate the suffering of women and children. This grant
enables a Kenyan youth development specialist to travel to Ghana to offer a workshop on community-based
programming for vulnerable children and to share lessons learned from the Kenyan experience.
$3,900 Firelight funds enable a group of church-based volunteers to conduct awareness-raising sessions on the
needs of children affected by AIDS in the community. They are training 30 volunteers in nursing skills and
childcare to reach approximately 90 children. The funds also help to establish a resource center for
vulnerable children and their caregivers.
2001 – $7,000 Matched by $7,000 in contributions from Global Strategies, this grant helps support the Child Health
Program of Kendu Bay. The funds provide Bactrim for 200 children and 100 adults for one year. Bactrim
is a drug used to protect HIV-positive and immune-compromised children against pneumonia. Funding
also pays for HIV screening tests, transportation costs, and home visits.
GRASSROOTS ALLIANCE FOR COMMUNITY EDUCATION (GRACE), Nairobi
2003 – $3,000 The Grassroots Alliance for Community Education provides leadership development among community
health workers and activists working with grassroots communities to fight HIV/AIDS. This grant helps
GRACE establish an office in Nairobi.
$27,000 Grant funding enables GRACE to facilitate a training workshop for 14 Firelight grantee-partner organizations
that have requested technical assistance in financial and narrative reporting, accounting and budgeting,
program development, and program administration. Funds also support follow-up visits to participants.
KIBERA COMMUNITY SELF-HELP PROGRAMME (KICOSHEP), Nairobi
2003 – $15,000 KICOSHEP was founded by an Anglican minister in response to the overwhelming numbers of orphaned
children that she encountered in Kibera, one of Africa’s biggest slums. The organization currently offers a
program of comprehensive care for the needs of vulnerable children including education, counseling,
nutrition, emotional support, HIV/AIDS awareness and education, and access to livelihood opportunities.
Firelight funding provides for the purchase of 10 sewing training and tailoring classes for youth, the
training of caregivers in income generating activities and caregiving skills, and the provision of rent for
10 families. Funds also provide a daily hot lunch for 375 children in the KICOSHEP school.
2002 – $5,000 With this grant, KICOSHEP is replacing stolen computers and office equipment.
2001 – $21,000 This grant provides funds to subsidize the basic needs of orphans (food, medicine, clothes, etc.), train
caregivers in orphan-specific issues, and provide vocational training to orphans.

Caroline Omondi is the Orphans Coordinator for the Kibera Community
Self Help Programme (KICOSHEP). KICOSHEP was founded by Anglican
Minister Anne Owiti to minimize the impact of AIDS on the community in
Kibera, one of Africa’s largest urban slums in Nairobi, Kenya.
Caroline was a teenager living in Kibera when her mother and father died.
Being the first-born in a family of seven children, she had a very difficult
time coming to terms with the reality of her loss. “It was very clear that all
my siblings would start depending on me as a guardian,” Caroline says.
“Most of my relatives ran away from us, and the ones who visited us only
came occasionally.” Caroline worried that she would have to drop out of
school in order to care for her siblings – until Anne Owiti identified her
family as one needing KICOSHEP’s support. KICOSHEP provided for
Caroline and her siblings, enabling the entire family to continue their
schooling.
Orphans Coordinator – Nairobi, Kenya
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Once Caroline finished secondary school she became a full-time volunteer
at KICOSHEP, receiving training on how to work with orphans and youths
like herself. She eventually was hired by the organization. “My work involves
counseling, home and school visits, education on HIV/AIDS, leadership
training, and workshop facilitation,” she explains. “I call meetings and run
different clubs for youths and orphans and also train grandmothers on how
to work with orphans.”
Caroline’s training has helped her give back to the community and support
her family: “I stay with my siblings. Two of my sisters and a brother have
completed their education. They are looking for employment. I am still
educating some of my siblings – two are in secondary and one is in primary
school.
“My greatest appreciation goes to KICOSHEP, who came to the rescue of
my family after my parents’ death when we had no one to support us,”
Caroline says. “Despite the fact that we’ve got no parents, we lead a very
happy life because every one of us has been or is still being educated. We
eat together and dress like any other person. Life continues, because we are
comforted, realizing that many more orphans in the area are also
undergoing the same problems, just like us.”
Caroline Omondi (left)
© Jennifer Astone

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
© Karen Ande
Children at KICOSHEP school celebrate through song and dance
MAMA DARLENE CHILDREN’S CENTRE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, Tala
2002 – $5,000 Monica Nguni, founder of Mama Darlene Children’s Centre, started a number of programs to meet the
educational, emotional, and nutritional needs of disabled children and children orphaned by AIDS. Her
organization also works to raise people’s awareness of the needs and rights of children with disabilities,
who are often shunned by their relatives and acquaintances. Located in a poor neighborhood, the
Centre provides healthcare, education, and meals to vulnerable children ages 3 to 14 who would not
attend school otherwise. Managed by parents, the Centre also runs a vegetable garden and a
refreshment kiosk as income-generating activities. Grant funds are enabling the Centre to build a
classroom and to purchase play equipment for the 45 children it serves.

MAPENDO AND ACTION WOMEN ASSOCIATION (MAWA), Mombasa
2001 – $50,000 Founded in 1993 by a group of HIV-positive women, MAWA focuses on the psychosocial and economic
needs of HIV-infected and affected people with an emphasis on creating livelihood opportunities. With
this grant, MAWA is building a community center, a school, and a clinic to serve 500 orphans and 200
guardians. The grant also covers costs associated with running these facilities.
PANDIPIERI COMMUNITY HEALTH PROGRAMME (PCHP), Kisumu
2003 – $15,000 Pandipieri’s programs cover 13 marginalized communities in Kisumu on Lake Victoria, an area of high
HIV prevalence. Their integrated programs include nutrition education, peer and child counseling,
home-based care, and maternal and child healthcare. Grant funds pay the salary of 2 nurses and 2
child counselors and cover the expenses of training 40 youth in peer and child counseling. Since many
vulnerable children in schools may be hungry or have no outlet for their grieving, the grant also
supports efforts to instruct teachers and school-going youth about HIV prevention and how to assist
children affected by AIDS. Funds also pay for essential medicines distributed through their community
health clinic.
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
2001 – $15,000 In order to strengthen Pandipieri’s community health program in the shanty towns around Kisumu,
Firelight is funding the salaries of a nutritionist and child counselor, the training of 12 home-based care
and childcare workers, and miscellaneous expenses.
POSITIVE WIDOWS IN KENYA (POWIK), Athi River
2001 – $5,000 POWIK was founded by a group of HIV-positive Maasai women in order to advocate for the equal
rights and recognition of widows living with AIDS and their children. They involve local volunteers in
outreach programs to serve vulnerable women and children in underserved communities. With this
grant, POWIK assists rural women and young girls with home-based care, counseling, and
advocacy.
RURAL EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMME (REEP), Butula
2003 – $15,000 REEP conducts vocational skills training and provides livestock, agricultural supplies, and sewing and
knitting machines to encourage self-reliance among 2,400 vulnerable children and their caregivers in
rural Kenya. REEP’s accomplishments have been featured on Kenyan national television and
applauded by the United Nations Development Program and the World Bank. With this grant from
Firelight, REEP is constructing offices, a counseling room, a clinic/pharmacy, and a community
meeting space.
$3,000 This grant enables REEP to respond to the emergency needs of caregivers of vulnerable children, such as
for housing and household expenses.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
2002 – $30,000 This grant funds the training of community health
workers and caregivers of children affected by
AIDS in home-based care techniques. It also
establishes an HIV counseling and testing center
in the community.
2001 – $30,000 REEP is using this grant to launch a microcredit
program for caregivers of orphans, to train
orphans and their guardians in counseling, and
to provide vocational skills training to vulnerable
teenage youth. REEP works in partnership with a
local bank, Butula Financial Services
Association, which manages a revolving loan
fund with more than 250 families as
shareholders. Using small loans from this fund,
caregivers and independent children initiate
income-generating activities, such as dairy
farming, that improve their livelihoods and foster
empowerment and a spirit of hope.
Definition of home-based care:
The act of providing for the material, health,
and emotional needs of people living with
AIDS and their families. Support may
include: bathing, providing protective
supplies and health information for
caregivers, emotional support, counseling,
doing household chores, food assistance,
and providing medicines to treat symptoms
or alleviate pain. Providers train household
members, often children, to use safe and
appropriate caregiving techniques in caring
for their loved one.
SAIDIA FURAHA ORGANIZATION (SFO), Kitengela
2003 – $10,000 Kitengela became industrialized very quickly, resulting in an increase in both population and the incidence
of HIV. Saidia Furaha, Swahili for “Help to be Happy,” came into existence to provide educational and
vocational training opportunities and counseling for orphaned children in the area. Firelight funds support
educational expenses for 77 primary school children, training for 20 young women in tailoring, awarenessraising
workshops on HIV/AIDS, and counseling sessions for HIV-positive people and children affected by
AIDS. Funds are also provided to assist with organizational development.
2001 – $6,500 Funds are providing orphans and vulnerable children with primary school support, vocational training,
and workshops. This grant also covers some administrative costs.
TEENAGE MOTHERS AND CHILDREN FAMILY HEALTH CARE PROGRAMME (TEMAC), Eldoret
2002 – $3,000 Operating in an area where there are many internally displaced people due to ethnic conflicts, TEMAC
was founded to help with the immediate needs of children and their caregivers. This grant covers the
costs of agricultural seeds, tools, and fertilizer for the community garden and essential drugs for the
community pharmacy.

“Before the introduction of home-based care at the community level in Butula,” Petronila explains, “it was believed that just
being near a person with AIDS could infect one. This impacted very negatively on the bedridden patients, as all family
members ran away from them out of ignorance. This then forced the
young children, especially the girls, to take over the responsibility of
looking after their ailing parents. They are the only ones who could
still love the sick parent in all circumstances. Unfortunately, they had
never been trained and many of them got infected…”
Petronila experienced this firsthand after she lost an uncle to AIDS and
witnessed how his children struggled. She was drawn to the homebased
care field as a result and now works as departmental head of
home-based care for the Rural Education and Economic
Enhancement Programme (REEP) in Butula, Kenya. She oversees
the work of 13 community health workers and their 3 supervisors,
who visit more than 1,000 home-bound sick people and their
families. When asked about the geographical range of their home
visits, Petronila shakes her head and remarks, “I don’t know how far it
is, only that it takes four hours on bicycle to reach our furthest client.”
Petronila has witnessed a positive transformation among her clients,
their families, and the community. “Through home-based care, we
in REEP have managed to reduce stigma for people living with AIDS
and their children. Our visits alleviate clients’ overwhelming
loneliness and provide valuable counseling to those isolated by
illness. We have seen many AIDS patients who have previously been
rejected by family members get several adult caretakers after
receiving education from our community health workers. Relatives
also come to understand that the children of HIV-positive parents
are not automatically HIV-positive themselves.
Home-based Care Supervisor – Butula, Kenya
© Jennifer Astone
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
“Home-based care has greatly reduced the burden on children. The
duty of the community health worker is to train family caregivers on taking care of an AIDS patient… If the only person is a child,
then she also is counseled, given basic education on HIV and AIDS, and provided with protective materials, like gloves…Our
worker visits such a child daily and takes over, to allow her to go to school. The community health worker also changes the
patient’s linens and bathes the patient. This helps the child to reduce her vulnerability to infection. It also gives emotional support
to the child, as she sees people still caring for and valuing the parent. The love of the child to the ailing parent continues to be
strong since the parent does not become a burden to the child. Home-based care has helped children understand AIDS, even
preparing the children for the parent’s death and their new lives as orphans.”

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
2001 – $2,500 The grant is providing partial support for food and medicine to 75 orphans who live with guardians.
WEM INTEGRATED HEALTH SERVICES (WEMIHS), Thika
2003 – $15,000 This organization has developed an effective model for mobilizing Community Orphan Care
Committees. They address children’s needs for nutrition assistance and material necessities like clothing,
school uniforms, and shoes, as well as create support groups for people living with AIDS. This grant
enables WEMIHS to recruit and train new members and to convene a stakeholders forum on advocacy
for children’s rights. It also funds home-based care visits to people living with AIDS and their children.
2001 – $11,600 This grant covers the cost of an orphan needs assessment, a community mobilization program, and the
training of orphan care committees. It also partially supports a daycare program, the improvement of
healthcare facilities, and a school scholarship fund.
WOMEN FIGHTING AIDS IN KENYA (WOFAK), Nairobi
2001 – $5,000 This organization started as a legal aid society for women living with AIDS, to help them advocate for
their rights under Kenyan law. It has since grown into an organization that advocates for women and
children and works to raise public awareness of the special needs of children. Grant funds pay for a
3-day advocacy skills seminar for 20 participants which includes a training on sexual abuse prevention
and treatment, and legal representation for orphans and caregivers.
WORLD INTERNET RESOURCES FOR EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT (WiRED), Thika
2003 – $10,000 WiRED’s network of Community Health Information Centers — small, independently operated computer
labs — currently provides health-related information to one million Kenyans. Over the past two years,
WiRED has trained and empowered more than two dozen unemployed Kenyan youth, vulnerable to HIV
infection, to operate the computer systems and train community members to use them. This grant
supports a pilot program to establish access for blind individuals, and to initiate two mobile centers to
reach disabled people unable to travel to existing centers.
2002 – $2,800 This grant is enabling a group of youth affected by AIDS to manage a Community Health Information
Center by providing funds for staff salaries and a computer.
2001 – $7,350 Firelight funding enables WiRED to purchase seven computers and train seven AIDS orphans in a pilot
program of computer learning at a conference in Mombasa.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 2.1 million
Population under age 18 940,000
HIV adult seroprevalence 31%
Orphans as percent of all children 17%
Total number of orphans 137,000
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 54%
Total Firelight funding $28,000
Number of grants given 4
Number of grantee-partners 4
Percent of grantees regranted 0%
LESOTHO SAVE THE CHILDREN, Maseru
2003 – $10,000 Lesotho Save the Children, founded in 1962, provides child protection services, hospice care,
educational support, and community-based HIV/AIDS support for abandoned infants and neglected
children. This grant helps support a new initiative to train community members to create orphan care
plans for vulnerable children within their home villages.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
LESOTHO YOUTH FOR CHRIST (YFC), Khubetsoana/Maseru
2003 – $8,000 YFC’s mission is to address challenges of urban youth such as unemployment, lack of educational
opportunities, and negative role models that can result in teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, and
HIV infection. This grant provides funding for YFC to build a youth center in one of the poorest and most
densely populated townships near the capital city. The youth center will offer educational and
recreational activities, while promoting community involvement and service.
TSEPONG COUNSELLING CENTRE, Sebaboleng/Maseru
2003 – $7,000 Tsepong Counselling Centre focuses on counseling and AIDS prevention work. They currently run four
village-level orphan support groups and regularly facilitate HIV/AIDS prevention and counseling
trainings nationwide. They are also supporting 15 orphans with food, home visits, and counseling. This
grant assists them with operational expenses. It also funds life skills training for children, and training for
caregivers and village support
groups in orphan issues, homebased
care, and counseling
skills.
TŠOSANE SUPPORT GROUP, Maseru
2003 – $3,000 This community group provides
home-based care, counseling
services, and food parcels to 45
orphans in a township outside
Maseru with a population of
about 20,000. Grant funding
enables the Tšosane Support
Group to fund the educational
expenses of 10 primary school
students and 2 secondary school
students. It also supplies
materials for behavior change
workshops.
© Jennifer Anderson-Bähr
Children at Lesotho Save the Children preschool

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 11.6 million
Population under age 18 6.1 million
HIV adult seroprevalence 15%
Orphans as percent of all children 18%
Total number of orphans 937,000
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 50%
Total Firelight funding $31,800
Number of grants given 5
Number of grantee-partners 5
Percent of grantees regranted 0%
CADECOM CHIKWAWA, Chikwawa
2003 – $6,000 This grant allows CADECOM Chikwawa to mobilize communities to address the needs of children
affected by HIV/AIDS. They are sensitizing and training 80 local leaders, community members, and youth
on the issues facing these children and ways to support them. Additionally, they are creating 2 growth
monitoring programs for children under 5 years of age, sponsoring vocational training for 12 orphans,
and initiating a revolving fund to provide affordable access to medicines.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
THE FEDERATION OF DISABILITY ORGANIZATIONS IN MALAWI (FEDOMA), Blantyre
2003 – $8,000 FEDOMA, an association of organizations, supports and advocates for greater attention to the concerns
and rights of the disabled. They recently spearheaded a successful three-year national public awareness
campaign. With Firelight’s support, FEDOMA is training 50 caregivers for 100 disabled orphans
affected by HIV/AIDS in business management and providing them with seed loans. Additionally,
FEDOMA offers educational assistance to 50 disabled orphans.
RUMPHI HIV/AIDS EDUCATION AWARENESS PROJECT (REAP), Rumphi
2003 – $3,000 REAP has developed a program of home-based care and HIV/AIDS awareness in their rural community.
With grant support, they are training 110 children in vocational skills and continuing their community
outreach and education.
SALIMA HIV/AIDS SUPPORT ORGANIZATION (SASO), Salima
2003 – $8,700 SASO was founded by Catherine Phiri, one of the first women in Malawi to openly disclose her
HIV-positive status. The organization works to support the needs of vulnerable children and adults living
with AIDS and to reduce AIDS-related discrimination. At SASO’s Children’s Corner, orphaned children
gather each Saturday morning for recreation, medical attention, education, a hot meal, and most
importantly, care and affection from a team of volunteers. This grant enables SASO to reach 200 more
children by starting a Children’s Corner in Pemba.
ZOMBA DIOCESE HOME-BASED CARE PROGRAMME, Zomba
2002 – $6,100 This organization offers a broad range of home-based care services to vulnerable children and their
caregivers. They also provide education, vocational training, and access to credit to child-headed
households. With these funds, they are initiating 3 small income-generating projects – farming, small
animal husbandry, and small business ventures – by providing skill-building workshops and start-up
materials to approximately 500 guardians and children affected by AIDS.

irelight partners with organizations that help prevent child sexual abuse and heal those who have been abused.
Orphans often lack money or access to education. Prostitution can become a last ditch means of supporting
themselves and their siblings. In several countries, the myth that raping a child can cure HIV has increased the
incidence of child sexual abuse. The threat of HIV is yet another important reason to give children the tools to resist sexual
violence. All children deserve to be protected and to be comforted and assisted in their recovery when they have been abused.
In 1999, Zimbabwean secondary school teacher Betty Makoni initiated
a girls’ club called the Girl Child Network (GCN).
“I realized that a lot of girls were coming to school late, and they were
not actively participating in core curricular activities,” she explained.
She thought they needed a forum to discuss their problems, needs, and
goals. The initial group of 10 members quickly grew. As the girls shared
their concerns, stories of sexual abuse came up again and again. Betty
realized that the Girl Child Network could play a vital role for girls in
her school and in her community.
The Girl Child Network rapidly expanded from Betty Makoni’s founding
secondary school chapter into a national girls’ movement. There are
now more than 150 GCN clubs, involving approximately 20,000 girls
throughout Zimbabwe. They have trained 173 peer counselors in child
sexual abuse and girls’ rights, and awarded 5,000 scholarships to girls
at risk of dropping out of school. GCN offers girls an outlet to express
their grievances and the opportunity to talk openly with their peers
about not only their problems, but also their visions and hopes for the
future.
Girl Child Network has provided valuable support to over 2,000 young
survivors of sexual abuse, including counseling, medical help, and
assistance with food, clothes, and shelter. The Firelight Foundation has
helped them establish a rural safe house called an “Empowerment
Village,” in which girl child survivors of sexual abuse are sheltered and
assisted. They have also been successful advocates for the prosecution of
sexual offenders. Through these efforts, Girl Child Network hopes to
foster a culture of accountability and an environment that respects girls’
and women’s rights to be free from abuse.
Girls at Girl Child Network’s Center in Chitungwiza
© tlmoody
Like GCN, the Greater Nelspruit Rape Intervention Program (GRIP) in South Africa offers critical support to child survivors
of sexual abuse and helps them obtain medical help, counseling, and legal advice. To meet the special needs of young abuse

survivors, GRIP has established five rape survivor care centers at
hospitals in the impoverished rural Mpumalanga province of South
Africa. Fully 85% of their clients are children under 16 years old,
including infants. GRIP’s compassionate and holistic program
includes trauma counseling, legal advice, and HIV prevention.
Through an extensive network of volunteers and field workers, GRIP
supports children through every step of their recovery, from giving
them teddy bears and care packets to helping them deal with the
police and ensuring they have a voice in legal proceedings.
GRIP writes that prior to their intervention, “rape survivors,
particularly children, had little or no support or dignity. None of
their rights were observed and they had no one to turn to for
assistance or comfort.” GRIP’s
sensitivity and expertise in dealing with
survivors’ physical, emotional, and
material needs and attending to their
legal rights has prompted many more
survivors to come forward, and many
more perpetrators to be brought to
justice.
Barbara Kenyon, CEO, GRIP
GRIP and GCN are just two Firelight
grantee-partners in Sub-Saharan Africa
that respond to the needs of sexual
abuse survivors. They recognize the
social circumstances that lead to
children’s sexual abuse and exploitation
in their communities and work to prevent
them. Both GRIP and GCN have
established solid advocacy platforms
that have led to more stringent laws and
more aggressive enforcement of existing
sexual assault legislation. Because of
their efforts, survivors have been given
life and hope, and the prospect of living
in a safer world.
Lesotho Child Counseling Unit uses an exercise with “happy and sad moments” to help
children work through experiences of sexual abuse and violence
© Jennifer Anderson-Bähr

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 1.8 million
Population under age 18 0.9 million
HIV adult seroprevalence 23%
Orphans as percent of all children 12%
Total number of orphans 97,000
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 49%
Total Firelight funding $44,000
Number of grants given 3
Number of grantee-partners 1
Percent of grantees regranted 100%
CATHOLIC AIDS ACTION (CAA), Windhoek
2003 – $20,000 CAA uses a multi-pronged approach to confronting AIDS, providing HIV/AIDS prevention activities,
Two-year grant home-based care and counseling for the ill, support of needy orphans, and the creation of livelihood
opportunities for orphans and vulnerable children. With this two-year grant, 300 children are receiving
school fees and uniforms. The funds are also covering the training and support of volunteers, as well as
administrative costs.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
2003 – $4,000 Using this discretionary grant, CAA is
distributing their book Building Resiliency
Among Children Affected by HIV/AIDS to all
Firelight grantee-partners and completing an
evaluation of its efficacy.
2001 – $20,000 Four hundred children are receiving school
fees, uniforms, and operating expenses as a
result of this grant. The grant also covers the
training and support of volunteers and
administrative costs.
© Jennifer Astone
A community pharmacy run by Bwafwano Community Home-
Based Care Programme, Lusaka, Zambia
Catholic AIDS Action distributed the book,
Building Resiliency Among Children Affected
by HIV/AIDS to all Firelight grantee-partners

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 7.9 million
Population under age 18 4.1 million
HIV adult seroprevalence 9%
Orphans as percent of all children 18%
Total number of orphans 613,000
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 43%
Total Firelight funding $192,800
Number of grants given 14
Number of grantee-partners 9
Percent of grantees regranted 33%
ASSOCIATION D’APPUI AUX GROUPEMENTS DANS LE DOMAINE SOCIO-ÉCONOMIQUE (AGS), Gikongoro
2002 – $10,000 Entirely volunteer-driven, AGS helps people living with AIDS to live positively, with a special focus on
providing educational and economic opportunities. Grant funds underwrite the cost of HIV/AIDS
education workshops and meetings that reach 350 caregivers, orphans, and children. Additional funds
are being applied towards educational expenses for children affected by AIDS.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
ASSOCIATION DES FEMMES CHEFS DE FAMILLES – GIRIBANGA (AFCF-
Giribanga), Kigali
2003 – $15,000 AFCF-Giribanga was founded by a group of widowed
survivors of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, who came together
for mutual support and to create livelihood opportunities for
themselves and their children. Giribanga means “to keep
our secret,” a word chosen because many of these women
were raped during the genocide, which resulted in their HIV
infection. With Firelight’s initial grant of $13,400, AFCF-
Giribanga established a small bakery and trained 15 youth
as bakers. This grant enables AFCF-Giribanga to expand its
successful bakery, covering the costs of a new oven and
related equipment, supplies, and bicycles for bread delivery.
Profits enhance the livelihoods of their growing membership,
now numbering 78 widows and 140 children.
2002 – $4,000 Funding covers the costs of hiring a technical consultant to
develop a marketing and training proposal for expanding
their youth-run bakery.
2001 – $13,400 In response to the growing number of child-headed
households, AFCF-Giribanga’s membership of 34 widows
and 106 children are establishing a bakery with this Firelight
grant. Firelight funding covers the costs of equipment,
personnel, and raw materials to start the bakery. The master
baker is training 15 youth in bread production. Profit from
bread sales provides the youth trainees with their first regular
income. Funds also cover a 5-day training program for 100
children in income-generating activities and legal rights.
Girl at Ikamva Labantu’s Khumbulani Daycare
in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa
© Jennifer Anderson-Bähr
ASSOCIATION DE SOUTIENS AUX RESCAPÉS DU GÉNOCIDE (ASRG-MPORE), Mirenge
2003 – $1,500 Founded in 1995 to alleviate the suffering of genocide survivors by reducing poverty and fostering
tolerance, ASRG-MPORE’s work with child-headed households has been celebrated by the First Lady of
Rwanda. Its poverty-reducing programs have focused on creating livelihood opportunities for childheaded
households and equipping them with the facts about HIV/AIDS and ways to avoid infection.
Firelight funds support the salary and transportation expenses of a community development worker
assisting 50 child-headed households with animal husbandry and small-scale agriculture activities in
rural Mirenge in Eastern Rwanda.

Advisory Board Member – London, United Kingdom
Tim Jackson, an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, journalist, and writer, brought his sharp business sense to Firelight when he
joined the Advisory Board in 2003. He says, “I discovered Firelight while searching for an effective way to support small scale
projects led by local communities. What drew me to the Foundation was the evident professionalism of the way Firelight and its
staff approached the problem – focusing clearly on specific areas where they could help, evaluating projects carefully, and
using technology effectively to support dozens of organizations across Africa from a small office in California.”
After graduating from Oxford University in 1986, Tim
joined The Economist and worked for the magazine as a
staff writer and foreign correspondent. He later joined
The Independent, a British daily newspaper, serving as
Japan and European Union bureau chief, editorial writer,
and technology editor. He was a columnist for the
Financial Times newspaper for six years and has
published three business books.
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Tim founded a technology company called QXL.com in
London in 1997. It achieved an initial public offering in
1999 in London and on the NASDAQ. He later worked as
managing director of a U.S. private equity firm, managing a
large European technology venture capital fund. Business
Week magazine recently named Tim one of the “50 Most
Influential People in Europe.” The National Portrait Gallery
in London also designated him as one of the “21 Leaders
for the 21st Century” in a photographic exhibition.
Tim Jackson teaching children to sing, “Head and shoulders, knees and
toes”, in Khayelitsha, Cape Town
In 2003, he accompanied Firelight staff on a site visit to
Rwanda and made some important observations: “Much
harder than giving money is earning the respect of the
local people whose efforts mean the difference between
success and failure. With modesty and warmth, the staff
had built friendships with the people running the projects
that Firelight supports – and it became clear from the hugs, and from the tears in those people’s eyes, that the Foundation is
viewed in Africa as a source not just of money but also of advice and moral support.
© Jennifer Anderson-Bähr
“When a private foundation like Firelight begins to attract donations from outside supporters, the need for clarity in decisionmaking
increases. As a member of Firelight’s Advisory Board, I’ve been impressed by how quickly the staff and board have
refined and improved their ways of working – leaving Firelight as nimble in response as when it began, while as thorough and
well-organized as public charities many times its size.”

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
2002 – $18,500 ASRG-MPORE has identified over
450 child-headed households in the
Mirenge District resulting from the
1994 genocide and AIDS-related
mortality. This grant enables ASRG-
MPORE to improve the livelihoods of
50 children heading households and
their 75 younger siblings by training
the youth in agriculture and life skills,
including reproductive health,
HIV/AIDS, and conflict resolution.
After training, the youth will be
organized into groups of 10 childheaded
households and equipped
with hoes, seeds, part-time labor, and
livestock, which will increase their
food production and income.
BAMPOREZE, Kigali
2003 – $8,000 Bamporeze’s main purpose is to
create income-generating programs,
thus offering support to households
headed by women and children as a
result of the genocide, war, and
HIV/AIDS. Two of their most successful
livelihood projects are in
woodworking and soap production.
This grant helps them initiate a
“twinning program” to pair 75 childheaded
households with neighboring
adults. The adults will act as mentors
or godparents to the children, serving
as counselors, educators, and friends.
Bamporeze is also using grant funding
to educate the adults and youth about
HIV/AIDS, to start an animal
husbandry project, and to create 14
anti-AIDS clubs for the youth.
Children in Lusaka, Zambia
© tlmoody

BENISHYAKA ASSOCIATION, Kigali / Country-wide
2003 – $15,000 Benishyaka means “courage” in Kinyarwanda, the mother tongue of most Rwandese. Benishyaka
Association operates nationwide to assist children in difficult circumstances by providing school
scholarships and training caregivers on the basics of small business start-up and management. Through
a careful selection process, they ensure that disadvantaged youth can continue their studies through
secondary school. Benishyaka reaches 3,000 children and adults with their programs. This grant
provides scholarship support for 131 secondary school students for another year of their education.
2002 – $40,000 This second year of funding provides one year of school fees and related expenses for 150 children who
were supported last year. Twenty of the these youth participate in a Firelight-funded pen pal exchange
with a high school in California, sharing the issues of daily life among youth dealing with the effects of
war and HIV/AIDS.
2001 – $40,000 The grant pays for one year of school fees and related expenses for 150 secondary school-aged
children.
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
DIOCESE CATHOLIQUE DE CYANGUGU, Cyangugu
2003 – $3,800 Funds are supporting the efforts of the Catholic Diocese to meet the educational expenses (uniforms,
shoes, notebooks, etc.) of 250 Batwa children in Cyangugu. It also pays for the health care needs of
693 Batwa children. The Batwa are an indigenous pygmy group in Rwanda who have been forced from
their forest homelands.
PROJET LES EQUIPES ENSEIGNANTS DU RWANDA/SYNDICAT NATIONAL DES ENSEIGNANTS DU PRIMAIRE
(PROJET EER/SNEP), Country-wide
2003 – $10,000 Project EER/SNEP works to educate youth in health matters and to advance HIV/AIDS prevention efforts
within schools. Recognizing the extensive impact that teachers have on the attitudes and beliefs of
children and youth, Project EER/SNEP has initiated a national effort to educate secondary school
teachers on HIV/AIDS prevention and sexuality and how these issues intersect with Rwandan culture. This
grant pays for the training of 1,000 secondary school teachers.
REMERA CATHOLIC CONTRE LE SIDA (RECASIDA), Kigali
2003 – $5,600 Started by school teachers to address the needs of vulnerable children in their classrooms, this volunteer
organization provides children with legal advice, moral guidance, psychosocial counseling, and material
assistance. Firelight funding is enabling RECASIDA to work with 10 adolescent girls to open a hair and
beauty salon as an income-generating activity. These young women will participate in a mentoring
program and also complete job-related training that is supplemented with information on HIV/AIDS and
life skills.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
© Jennifer Astone
Zimbabwean grantee-partner meeting, January 2003
RWANDA WOMEN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT NETWORK (RWN), Kigali
2003 – $8,000 This organization developed out of post-genocide relief efforts. One of their programs, the Polyclinic of
Hope, was set up to meet the needs of HIV-positive women and their children. Medical staff noticed that
their clients’ needs extended beyond medical care to all aspects of rebuilding their lives. They began to
offer counseling, daycare, and vocational training. Firelight grant funding allows RWN to train 47 pairs
of women and children on HIV/AIDS awareness and home-based care as a step toward empowering
them to meet their physical, psychological, and emotional needs. They are also educating 27 women on
the basics of small business activities and are providing them with start-up loans.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 43.8 million
Population under age 18 17.6 million
HIV adult seroprevalence 20%
Orphans as percent of all children 10%
Total number of orphans 1.53 million
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 43%
Total Firelight funding $200,100
Number of grants given 18
Number of grantee-partners 16
Percent of grantees regranted 13%
ASSOCIATION FRANÇOIS-XAVIER BAGNOUD (AFXB), Johannesburg
2003 – $12,000 This organization works in two of the largest townships around Johannesburg, offering after-school
programs for children who normally would go home to an empty house or ill parents. AFXB offers
homework help, recreational activities, and pen pal programs, and in addition, assists families with
home-based care. Grant funds are helping AFXB expand its after-school tutoring and bereavement art
program for 30 children in the Alexandra Township.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
BELABELA WELFARE SOCIETY, Warmbaths
2003 – $3,000 Belabela operates in a rural underserved area, providing home-based care, orphan outreach, and
support groups for vulnerable children and people living with AIDS. Through their bereavement
program, Belabela is using grant funds for school fees and recreational activities for children. Funds are
also covering staff training in psychosocial counseling and administrative costs.
BOTSHABELO BABIES HOME, Kyalami
2002 – $17,600 Botshabelo Babies Home provides short- to medium-term shelter and care for abandoned babies and
HIV-positive babies and children. They work closely with the local community, government agencies, and
adoption services to place children in long-term homes. The grant is providing salary support for inhouse
and satellite caregivers and helping cover project administration costs.
2001 – $8,700 Grant funding supports the shelter and covers the salaries of a social worker and two caregivers, as well
as administrative fees.
CHILDREN’S RIGHTS CENTRE (CRC), Durban
2002 – $14,000 CRC was founded during the apartheid era to address
the rights of children in prison. Now focusing broadly
on child rights, CRC is using grant funds to develop a
Mobile Play Pack for children in institutional settings,
such as police stations or hospitals. They are providing
training and support to service providers in these
settings on how to reach children under stress through
play. The Play Packs are also raising awareness among
these frontline workers about all the basic rights of
children, including the right to and the psychosocial
importance of play! The Mobile Play Packs are being
used to reach 5,000 children in difficult circumstances.
Definition of pallative care:
An approach to caring for people who
are suffering from life-limiting illnesses
and their families that aims to achieve
the best possible quality of life for them
by addressing their physical, psychological
and spiritual needs. This holistic
approach aims to enable people to die
with dignity and to support those close
to them in bereavement. Central to this
approach is pain control, the relief of
troubling symptoms, and emotional
support.
EMPILWENI PROJECT, Khayelitsha/Cape Town
2003 – $7,800 Operating in one of the largest townships around
Cape Town, Empilweni implements a Children’s
Support Group Program that addresses the lack of emotional support for children affected by HIV/AIDS.
With this grant they are assisting 40 children in coming to terms with a parent’s and/or caregiver’s illness
and approaching death. Empilweni is also facilitating workshops for parents and caregivers so they can
understand and support their children during this difficult time. Finally, they are providing skills training
and development workshops for teachers and community leaders, exploring the psychosocial effects of
HIV/AIDS on children and addressing stigma reduction.

Sonto Manyathi first witnessed the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and AIDS while providing care to infirm
people in a nursing home. Her commitment to ending that stigma drew her to work as an outreach worker for Association
François-Xavier Bagnoud (AFXB) South Africa, which offers home-based care and counseling to people living with AIDS
and their families. She also facilitates recreational activities and provides emotional support to children through the AFXB
After-School Project.
As an outreach worker, Sonto spends the majority of her time in Alexandra and Soweto, two of the largest townships around
Johannesburg. She spends her mornings visiting people in need of counseling or home-based medical care. She is often
overcome with the idea of visiting so many suffering, needy
people. “ ‘What am I going to do today?’ I ask myself. ‘How
am I going to visit again with all those very sick people?’
Often, the most important thing I can offer is to listen as
people share their problems.”
In the afternoon, she works with the children in AFXB’s afterschool
program. There, she provides ongoing counseling,
helps with homework, and organizes recreational, drama,
and singing activities. When she has time, she stops at
Johannesburg Hospital to spend time with AIDS patients in
the children’s wards. She finishes her workday with a few
hours in the AFXB office with her co-workers, documenting
her outreach activities, discussing challenging cases, and
celebrating successes.
“When I come home from work – before I even see my
children – I sit alone in my room for a few moments and think
about all I’ve seen during the day. I go to the mirror and I say,
‘You know what Sonto? You’ve done it. You made it through
another day. If you are a human being, let us help one
another.’ That’s what I tell myself. It is hard work, but I love it.
Outreach Worker – Johannesburg, South Africa
Sonto Manyathi teaching children to dance in Alexandra
© Jennifer Astone
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
“Through this work I have learned my weak points and my
strong points. I have learned to do the best in whatever I do.
In my life, my best teachers are not the doctors or
professionals, but the people I work with in Alexandra and
the children. Even up to now, I am still learning from them. I have also seen these children grow and change through their
involvement in the AFXB program. They respect each other. They listen to each other. They have opened up with their feelings.
They teach one another.”

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
FIKELELA CHILDREN CENTRE, Khayelitsha/Cape Town
2003 – $4,000 Fikelela operates in the high-need township of Khayelitsha. Due to the displacement of families and the
breakdown in traditional community caring structures, families living in these areas are often isolated
and left without the traditional resources to help with childcare. Fikelela Children’s Centre provides
outreach services to families, plus daycare, medical care, temporary shelter, and foster family
placements for orphans and vulnerable and HIV-positive children. This grant is helping the Centre
continue its foster care program, which provides both emergency care and supervised placements with
long-term parents. It also provides comprehensive screening, training, and supervision to foster parents
as well as outreach and support to the children and the surrounding community.
GREATER NELSPRUIT RAPE INTERVENTION PROGRAMME (GRIP), Nelspruit
2002 – $20,000 GRIP is one of the only organizations in South Africa dealing with the issue of child rape. It supports
children through the legal and social work process ensuring that their rights are upheld and that they
receive the support they need. With the grant, GRIP provides safety and aftercare services to over 1,300
rape survivors, 85% of whom are children under the age of 16, including infants and young children.
GRIP is acting as a liaison between the victims and the medical and legal systems (i.e. hospitals, social
welfare, and police departments), ensuring that the basic survival and security needs of these vulnerable
children are met. GRIP field workers also administer HIV tests to rape survivors and provide medical and
psychosocial referrals and support to those who test positive.
IKAMVA LABANTU, Khayelitsha/Cape Town
2003 – $8,000 Under the umbrella organization of Ikamva Labantu, Khumbulani Day Care provides daycare and urgent
overnight care for children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Specifically, this grant pays for the
construction of a building that will house the daycare facility for 40 children.
KAKARETSO DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING TRUST, Phuthaditjhaba
2003 – $7,000 This organization has formed clubs for local women who come together to work on income-generating
activities. The women also bring the children that they care for (many of whom have lost their parents to
HIV/AIDS) to the meetings. This grant is allowing the clubs to improve the services for the children by
training two women from each club in early childhood development skills and by providing follow-up
support.
MILLENNIUM HOME OF HOPE (MHH), White River
2003 – $9,000 The Millenium Home of Hope, a transitional shelter for orphans, operates in Mpumalanga, the province
with the second highest HIV prevalence rate in South Africa. MHH focuses on moving orphaned babies
and children out of their shelter and into foster care (called ‘mini Homes of Hope’) within the community
and providing monthly follow-up support to foster families. With this grant, Millennium Home of Hope is
increasing their impact in this province by expanding to 40 fully functioning mini Homes of Hope. They

will enhance their outreach in the community, screen and train potential foster parents, and provide
ongoing training to current foster parents/families and staff.
THE NCEDULUNTU SANCTUARY TRUST, Cape Town
2003 – $4,000 Based in the Nomzama settlement outside of Cape Town, Nceduluntu was started by Maureen Lumka,
nicknamed the “Wheel Barrow Saint,” because she used a padded wheelbarrow to pick up the disabled
and often HIV-positive children who attended her preschool. She now provides residential care to 14
orphans, daycare and a meal program for more than 60 vulnerable children, and a vocational skills
training program for caregivers. With this grant, Nceduluntu is training four teachers in their pre-school
and providing one staff person with management training.
PIETERMARITZBURG CHILD WELFARE COMMUNITY CARE PROJECT, Pietermaritzburg
2003 – $8,000 This project focuses on placing HIV-positive children with extended family members or in foster care
within their community. Due to substantially increasing demand, the Special Needs Placement Unit is
using this grant to expand the pool of screened and trained foster parents, as well as to increase
awareness among community leaders.
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
SAKHISIZWE/GRAHAMSTOWN FOUNDATION, Grahamstown
2003 – $4,000 This program provides training to
principals, teachers, parents, and
students in rural primary schools to
empower families affected by HIV/AIDS.
Training includes: HIV/AIDS facts,
writing skills, management and
governance, and crop and vegetable
farming. With Firelight funds, Sakhisizwe
is expanding its outreach program to 44
rural schools across 4 districts.
SINOSIZO HOME BASED CARE, Chatsworth/Durban
2003 – $10,000 Sinosizo Home Based Care provides
care to terminally ill AIDS patients in 10
townships and informal settlements Grace Mnguni, AFXB, South Africa
around Durban. They also serve
children whose parents can no longer
care for them due to illness or death. With this grant, Sinosizo is developing 16 training modules to train
50 children and 100 volunteers who work with orphans and vulnerable children. Sinosizo will then
replicate this program in at least five other areas.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
FOUNDATION FOR HOSPICES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA/SOUTH COAST HOSPICE, Port Shepstone
2001 – $48,000 After working with terminally ill adults, South Coast Hospice realized that when their patients die they
often leave behind children who also need help. Grant funds provide 200 rural children about to be
orphaned with a memory box. The box contains a letter from their parent describing their hopes and
dreams for that child, along with photos and other small mementos. The process of creating the box with
a community health worker
provides psychosocial
support to the parent as well
as a sense of family history
for the children.
VULEKA, Durban
2003 – $10,000 Vuleka is a local media
production company that
has made videos on the
condition of orphaned and
vulnerable children. With
this grant, Vuleka is
developing and producing
audiocassettes and CDs with
songs that encourage the
development of vulnerable
children’s self-esteem. They
will distribute the music to
local radio programs, media
outlets, and home-based
care programs.
© Jennifer Astone
Grandmother and her grandchildren with the memory box made by the children’s
mother at South Coast Hospice

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 36.0 million
Population under age 18 18.6 million
HIV adult seroprevalence 8%
Orphans as percent of all children 12%
Total number of orphans 1.93 million
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 42%
Total Firelight funding $86,300
Number of grants given 14
Number of grantee-partners 11
Percent of grantees regranted 27%
BUTOGWA WOMEN’S HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (BUWOHEDE), Sengerema/Mwanza
2003 – $4,000 BUWOHEDE was started by a group of village women who wanted equal rights for marginalized women
and children living on 5 islands and 10 villages adjacent to Lake Victoria. In an effort to empower and
educate women and children affected by HIV/AIDS, BUWOHEDE is using grant funds to train 25
caregivers in business management and marketing skills and provide small loans to 20 women to
establish income-generating activities.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
DIOCESE OF SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS ORPHAN SUPPORT PROGRAM (DSH), Mbeya
2003 – $4,500 Situated in southwest Tanzania, this Diocese of the Anglican Church works in the Mbeya region,
which has a population of 2.1 million. They mobilize and educate clergy about youth development
and HIV/AIDS as a means of preventing further infection. With this grant, DSH is identifying
orphaned and vulnerable children around Mbeya, assessing their situation, and raising awareness
within the community of their needs. DSH is working with a coalition of faith-based organizations to
assist the children.
ELIMU, MICHEZO NA MAZOEZI (EMIMA), Dar Es Salaam
2003 – $7,500 EMIMA empowers children by providing information on reproductive health, life skills, HIV/AIDS
prevention, and care of those living with AIDS through organized sports activities. With this funding,
EMIMA is supporting its youth sports leaders (“peer coaches”) with 22 educational scholarships, 60
partial scholarships, and 45 vocational training opportunities. Additionally, they are reaching hundreds
of children in the community through weekly sports gatherings and by distributing HIV/AIDS information
via fliers, leaflets, workshops, and seminars.
© Jennifer Anderson-Bähr
Children at Tuamoyo Family Children’s Centre/St. Alban’s Street Children Society, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

LAKE NYANZA ENVIRONMENTAL AND SANITATION ORGANIZATION (LANESO), Mwanza
2003 – $8,800 LANESO, an environmental conservation organization, works with the marginalized community of fisher
boys living on Jumaa Island in Lake Victoria. Firelight funding enables LANESO to improve the livelihoods
of 50 of these orphaned fishermen by teaching them appropriate fishing techniques, providing them with
improved, environmentally-appropriate fishing nets, and advising them about the importance of financial
savings. The youth are also being taught about HIV/AIDS prevention through behavior change.
MAKIUNGU COMMUNITY BASED HOME CARE (CBHC), Singida
2003 – $4,000 Makiungu Community Based Home Care (CBHC) is a program based on health services that initially
were provided at Makiungu Hospital, in a rural town 335 kilometers from Arusha. The Makiungu CBHC
program initially offered palliative care to the dying, but soon added material and psychosocial support
to vulnerable children and their grandparent caregivers. Firelight funding supports weekly outreach to
AIDS orphans and families. Makiungu CBHC is also holding 13 workshops around Singida to raise
community awareness of the needs and rights of orphans and vulnerable children. This program has
been recognized by the Tanzanian First Lady.
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
MARYKNOLL MISSION SISTERS, Musoma
2002 – $10,000 The Maryknoll Sisters work in three towns in Mwanza, carrying out programs that provide education and
vocational training opportunities to marginalized children and support to their caregivers. Additionally,
each Sister works with youth leaders in her community to coordinate “Youth Alive” groups focused on
preventing HIV and promoting community service among youth. The Sisters also offer emergency support
to families. This grant funds a community school that offers computer and English classes, counseling,
meals, and recreational activities for 40 vulnerable children. It pays the educational expenses of 3
nursery, 295 primary, and 5 secondary school pupils. The grant is also supporting the Sisters’ home visits
of sick children and their caregivers.
2001 – $8,000 Grant funds are supporting educational, counseling, and support services for more than 100 orphans
and vulnerable children. It is also paying for 67 children to attend school and for peer education
programs through the Youth Alive program.
MARYKNOLL MISSION SISTERS, Musoma and nearby areas
2002 – $10,500 Grant funds cover the salaries of one full-time and one part-time social worker to coordinate AIDS home
care and outreach activities to vulnerable children. It is also paying for 600 children to attend 12 HIV
prevention behavior change seminars led by their peers.
2001 – $8,500 The school fees and expenses of 35 primary and 5 secondary school students are being paid with this
grant. Critical food assistance is being provided to needy families. This grant also supports 11 seminars
for youth on behavior change.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
MARYKNOLL MISSION SISTERS, Mwanza
2002 – $5,000 Eighty-five primary and eight secondary school students are being educated with grant funds. Funds are
also being used to pay for 60 youth to attend Youth Alive behavior change seminars. They are
conducting AIDS awareness events and recreational activities in their community to promote positive and
fun activities.
2001 – $3,500 Sixty primary and five secondary school students in the Nyakato and Mwanza areas are being supported
with this grant. Critical food assistance is being provided to 40 families. This grant also supports weekly
meetings of Youth Alive behavior change groups and the costs of a World AIDS Day awareness-raising
and outreach event.
ORPHANS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME INTERNATIONAL (ODPI), Mwanza
2003 – $4,500 ODPI partners with grassroots self-help groups in six east African countries to help them strengthen their
capacity to do their work. The Tumaini Women’s organization was started by a group of women living
with HIV/AIDS who came together for mutual support and to start businesses. Firelight funding enables
ODPI to help the Tumaini Women’s group initiate and administer a revolving loan fund for 20 widows
who care for 48 children. This grant also provides educational, medical, and nutritional support to 60
widows and their children.
TUAMOYO FAMILY CHILDREN’S CENTRE / ST. ALBAN’S STREET CHILDREN SOCIETY (TFCC), Dar Es Salaam
2003 – $4,500 Founded in 1992 by members of St. Alban’s Church, the Tuamoyo Family Children’s Centre addresses
the needs of street boys in the harbor area of Dar Es Salaam. Tuamoyo conducts outreach to children
living on the street, provides transitional shelter, and works with the children, their relatives, and social
service agencies to reunify families. Funding helps Tuamoyo identify 15 of the street children for
reunification, provide them with temporary shelter, food, clothing, counseling, and education, and
facilitate the family tracing and reunification process.
WAMATA SENGEREMA, Sengerema
2002 – $3,000 Walio Katika Mapambano Na Aids Tanzania (WAMATA), Swahili for “Those battling against AIDS in
Tanzania,” is a national grassroots membership organization comprised of people from all walks of life.
They provide HIV/AIDS prevention education, training on the care of people living with HIV/AIDS, and
school materials for needy students. This grant to the Sengerema branch of WAMATA is covering the
educational expenses of 103 primary school and 18 secondary school children and providing vocational
training for 5 youth. Funding also enables WAMATA Sengerema to pay for emergency food and
medicine for 63 families affected by AIDS.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 24.0 million
Population under age 18 13.5 million
HIV adult seroprevalence 5%
Orphans as percent of all children 15%
Total number of orphans 1.73 million
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 51%
Total Firelight funding $121,500
Number of grants given 12
Number of grantee-partners 8
Percent of grantees regranted 38%
BLESSED MARTYRS ORPHANAGE CENTRE, Kampala
2002 – $4,700 The Centre, serving 380 abandoned children, is utilizing the grant to build a carpentry and woodworking
workshop in order to provide vocational skills training opportunities.
CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENT TECHNOLOGY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (CETRUD), Kasese
2003 – $15,000 The philosophy driving CETRUD is that orphaned children grow and thrive more fully in family homes,
rather than orphanages. Building on lessons learned from a previous grant, CETRUD is providing 30
additional seed grants to caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children. Funds will also cover ongoing
technical training and support to the caregivers.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
2002 – $5,000 With this grant, CETRUD provides small business management training to 17 caregivers and offers
microcredit loans for the start up of new businesses.
FRIENDS OF CHRIST REVIVAL MINISTRIES (FOC-REV), Busia
2002 – $10,000 FOC-REV was founded to care for people living with HIV/AIDS and orphans in the Busia district.
Grant funds enable FOC-REV to provide tuition assistance to 60 secondary school children and
purchase required school uniforms for 127 primary school children. FOC-REV is also purchasing
computer equipment and vocational skills training equipment, including carpentry tools and four
sewing machines.
KYETUME COMMUNITY BASED HEALTH CARE PROGRAMME, Mukono
2002 – $5,000 Kyetume Community Based Health Care Programme strives to enhance the psychological and social
adjustment of people infected with and affected by HIV. Recognizing the importance of household food
security in meeting this goal, they initiated a farming program for vulnerable families. Firelight funding
covers the purchase of a dairy cow, vegetable seeds, and other supplies in order to provide incomegenerating
activities and improved nutrition to 300 families caring for orphans. The Programme will also
provide training and instruction in animal husbandry and crop production.
NATIONAL COALITION OF WOMEN LIVING WITH AIDS (NACWOLA), Kampala
2003 – $15,000 NACWOLA’s activities include support groups for HIV-positive women, income-generating activities for
widows and orphaned children, home visits, and counseling. NACWOLA’s memory book project
provides a family history and connection for children with parents who have HIV/AIDS. It also ensures
that parents plan for the future by establishing wills and guardianship arrangements. Firelight funds are
providing vocational training for orphaned children, awareness seminars for children and caregivers on
reproductive health and family life, and follow-up support to HIV-positive mothers participating in the
memory book project.
$5,000 This grant is helping purchase a used vehicle to improve rural outreach.
2001 – $20,000 Grant funds provide children affected by HIV/AIDS with counseling services, memory books, school fees,
material support, vocational training, home visits, and cultural events.
ST. AGNES CATHOLIC WOMENS GUILD, Jinja
2001 – $11,500 In order to support 40 orphans, St. Agnes makes oil cakes which they sell locally. Firelight is funding
bakery machinery, raw materials, and other items needed to expand their project into a bread baking
enterprise to generate income and employment to support more orphans.

Natasha Martin came to Firelight with 20 years of scientific research experience in genetics, endocrinology, and immunology.
An Advisory Board member since Firelight’s founding, she has always believed that “the most effective and powerful agents for
rapid and positive social change in regions of limited resources are communitybased
health workers and community-based leaders. This is especially true in
dealing with issues such as HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa,” she points out,
“where social behavior is closely related to health status.”
While directing the Pediatric Clinical Research Center Core Laboratory at the
University of California in San Francisco, Natasha pioneered some of the
earliest laboratory methods that were used for the discovery of HIV/AIDS in
infants and children.
Natasha co-founded Global Strategies for HIV Prevention and the Grassroots
Alliance for Community Education (GRACE) to promote leadership development
among grassroots communities to fight HIV/AIDS. “I have found that education
and training, when delivered at the grassroots level by a community-owned
process, goes a long way towards introducing this social change. I continually
see this belief in action,” Natasha says. “My first experience of this was in Kenya.
What I saw there changed the course of my life. Community health workers or
volunteers had been provided with basic skills in home care of the sick. They
also understood their limitations, and knew when to seek help from a doctor or
a nurse. These volunteers were watching out for the most vulnerable people in
their community. Of course, included among them were many children.”
Advisory Board Member
Half Moon Bay, California, United States
Natasha Martin (left) with Advisory Board
member, Beatrice Were
© Jennifer Astone
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Natasha currently organizes and coordinates international training workshops
throughout Africa that are aimed at equipping local leaders and community
health workers with skills that promote HIV prevention and enhance the care
and support of people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. “What I have
discovered is that home-based care, orphan care, youth empowerment – all of
these strategies – have expanded and developed as a result of these training
workshops and a very modest amount of financial support. This modest support,
on the order of a few hundred dollars in most cases, has often led to later
funding by governments and international donors.”
Natasha says that the late John Gardner has been an inspiration to her. He wrote, “The future is not shaped by people who do
not believe in the future. Men and women of vitality have always been prepared to bet their futures – even their lives – on
ventures of unknown outcome.” Therefore, Natasha says, “I appreciate the vision and courage of Kerry Olson and David Katz
in creating the Firelight Foundation. I am honored to be associated with their organization.”

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
ST. FRANCIS HEALTH CARE SERVICES, Jinja
2003 – $15,000 St. Francis Health Care Services’ primary focus has been to strengthen the community to respond to HIV
through prevention and care, and to restore hope and dignity to those affected. This grant supports the
medical and counseling team that serves children and their families and provides for the supervision and
facilitation of income-generating activities for caregivers.
2001 – $10,000 The funds allow St. Francis Health Care Services to create income-generating activities for foster
caregivers, provide food for needy children, and support the medical and counseling team that serves
children and their families.
STUDENT’S SELF-HELPER INITIATIVE (SSHINE), Jinja
2002 – $5,000 SSHINE is a community-based organization that seeks to help children and young people make
responsible choices. With grant funds, SSHINE provides three HIV/AIDS sensitization trainings and three
behavior change communication
workshops for students and
teachers in three area schools.
They will also train at least 80
primary and post-primary school
children in life skills and human
values development. The grant
also covers tuition and school
materials for five vulnerable
children.
YOUTH ALIVE CLUB, Apac District
2002 – $11,800 Youth Alive Club grew out of the
need to help youth avoid
contracting HIV/AIDS so that they
might live to fulfill their dreams
Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa
and ambitions. Clubs were
formed to promote positive and
healthy lifestyles, faith and
values, and positive behavioral change. Using grant funds, the Youth Alive Club offers Education for Life
Anti-AIDS workshops to approximately 500 young people, as well as trains 180 peer educators. As part
of their education campaign, they are organizing two community sensitization seminars, video shows,
and music, drama, and poetry festivals. They are also purchasing a motorcycle to facilitate ongoing
follow-up and support to the peer educators.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 285.9 million
Population under age 18 73.8 million
HIV adult seroprevalence 0.6%
Orphans as percent of all children 3%
Total number of orphans 2.53 million
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 3%
Total Firelight funding $82,350
Number of grants given 6
Number of grantee-partners 5
Percent of grantees regranted 20%
CHILDREN AFFECTED BY AIDS FOUNDATION (CAAF), Los Angeles, California
2001 – $10,000 This grant supports the development of their international programs to assist children and families
affected by AIDS.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
ELIZABETH GLASER PEDIATRIC AIDS FOUNDATION, Santa Monica, California
2000 – $12,500 The Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation is at the forefront of a global effort to prevent mother-tochild
HIV transmission. This grant supports “Call to Action,” an effort to reduce the rate of mother-toinfant
AIDS transmission in Africa and other developing regions through community education, health
care worker training, HIV counseling and testing, and the provision of antiretroviral medicines.
JACOB’S HEART, Santa Cruz, California
2002 – $3,801 Jacob’s Heart provides emotional support and recreational opportunities for children facing terminal
illness and their families. This grant provides access to movement therapy for nine children in the Santa
Cruz area who are coping with life-threatening or chronic illnesses.
2001 – $9,549 This grant provides access to movement therapy for 18 children in the Santa Cruz area who are coping
with life-threatening or chronic illnesses.
MOXIE FIRECRACKER FILMS, New York, New York
2000 – $10,000 This social issues-oriented documentary film production company has produced a film, Pandemic:
Facing AIDS, that shows the faces of very different people living with HIV on five continents. Firelight
support funds the production of educational materials to accompany the film, to be used to raise
awareness among policymakers and the general public about the extent and impact of the HIV/AIDS
crisis in developing countries.
YOUTH PHILANTHROPY WORLDWIDE (YPW), Berkeley, California
2003 – $36,500 Firelight is partnering with Youth Philanthropy Worldwide (YPW), an organization that works to foster
Two-year grant global awareness in young people, to enhance its Pen Pal Exchange. Firelight funds support letter-writing
activities between Firelight’s grantee-partners and students in the U.S. YPW is also developing a website,
a service learning project, and a small grants program for groups of youth in the U.S. and in African
countries.

he best place to sample the wares of the Boulangerie Giribanga in Kigali, Rwanda is in their café – a long simple room
filled with benches and one wooden table. There, young apprentice bakers will serve you coffee and the baked breads,
brioches, cookies, and meat pies they make for breakfast and lunch. If you walk through the café and out the back past
a vegetable garden, you can get to the bakery itself – a bamboo-covered area containing an enormous wood-fired oven
made of homemade bricks. Surrounding the oven are ten or twelve young trainees who are learning to mix and shape the
dough and bake the bread and pastries. Dozens of these young people have passed through the bakery’s training program
since it was started with Firelight funding in 2001. Now, rather than facing a future of poverty and hopelessness, they have the
means to support themselves.
The organization behind the bakery, Association des Femmes Chefs de Familles (AFCF), works to create livelihood
opportunities for local widows, children, and orphans whose lives have been disrupted by AIDS and the Rwandan genocide.
The success of the bakery has helped AFCF fund other
important projects in their community, and to expand the
bakery to employ even more young people. A 2003
Firelight grant allowed the bakery to purchase a fleet of
bicycles so trainees could deliver bread to small grocery
stores around the city.
Income-generating projects like the bakery show how
well people can do for themselves when given a little
assistance. These activities vary from place to place –
what succeeds in the city may not do well in a rural area
and vice versa. Orphans in rural areas may benefit from
farming tools, seeds, and fertilizer, while destitute teens
in a densely populated city might be trained in
hairdressing or catering. But no matter where they live,
the training and material goods help these children
move from being the poorest of the poor to being able
to support themselves and their siblings.
Fresh bread from the AFCF Boulangerie Giribanga in Kigali, Rwanda
© tlmoody
Another organization that works to provide income-generating activities for people is REEP (the Rural Education and
Economic Enhancement Programme) in Kenya. One of their most successful projects, similar to others that Firelight
supports throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, is making small loans to start an income-generating activity to individuals whose
subsistence living has prevented them from even opening a bank account. The poor have always been considered bad
credit risks, and children have almost universally been denied access to credit. But in Sub-Saharan Africa, heads of families
can be as young as 14 years old. Already-impoverished community members that take in orphaned children often find their
resources stretched to the breaking point with another mouth to feed. By giving children and families access to income,
their economic situation can change for good.

REEP offers loans to women caregivers of orphans and
vulnerable children to help them provide for their
expanded families. The typical start-up loan is about
3,000 Kenyan shillings, or $42. Esther Onyango
obtained her loan after her husband and his “co-wife”
died and she was left to care for eight children. Esther
had noticed that her town lacked a bookseller and that
people had to travel long distances at great cost to
obtain reading materials and stationery. Because there
were so many schools in the area, she knew there was a
ready market for affordable books and school supplies.
Esther invested her loan and opened the town’s first
bookshop. In a typical week, Esther earns between $8
and $12, enough to pay her children’s school fees, put
nutritious food on the table, and ensure that the family’s
health needs are met.
One significant reason for the success of businesses
like Esther’s is due to the extensive training the
participants underwent before receiving the loans. They
took a course that included information on business
development, profitability analysis, money
management, and how to determine the market. As a
result of this training, the women initiated a diversity of
businesses such as tailoring, bicycle spare parts, and
fish mongering.
Esther Onyango in her book shop
© Jennifer Astone
Another successful REEP project that Firelight funded
offered dairy animals to people willing to take in
orphaned children. REEP’s Mary Makokha reports, “[In]
two years, we have settled 38 children in 6 families and the children are doing great, they are going to school. The [proceeds]
of the milk… enable the caregivers to feed the child, clothe the child, and it has given these children a hope and the security
to [know] there’s an adult around.”
Income-generating activities such as these can transform the lives of children and families. They restore financial
independence and dignity to participants, who in turn are able to provide services to their communities and take their places
as productive and respected community members.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 10.6 million
Population under age 18 5.7 million
HIV adult seroprevalence 22%
Orphans as percent of all children 18%
Total number of orphans 874,000
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 65%
Total Firelight funding $273,300
Number of grants given 31
Number of grantee-partners 24
Percent of grantees regranted 21%
ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF LUSAKA, Livingstone
2003 – $2,100 St. Margaret’s Community School, run by the Anglican Diocese, provides education for vulnerable
children and brings together the community to increase awareness and build capacity for caring for
children in this community near Victoria Falls. Grant funding enables the school to hold three
community-based workshops on HIV/AIDS and two community sensitization workshops on child rights.
They are also sending four youth to short courses in vegetable growing and chicken keeping and
engaging all students in small-scale income-generating activities.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
ANGLICAN STREET CHILDREN PROJECT, Lusaka
2002 – $5,000 The goal of the Anglican Street Children Project is to strengthen vulnerable families, thus alleviating the
hardships that force children onto the streets. They also provide long-term care for orphans. Grant
money is being used to train children in a bakery project.
2001 – $5,000 The grant enables the Project to provide counseling, school supplies (books, uniforms, pens, and shoes),
and other basic necessities for children, as well as providing outreach to their caregivers.
BWAFWANO COMMUNITY HOME-BASED CARE ORGANIZATION, Lusaka
2003 – $15,000 Bwafwano operates a clinic, a youth peer educator program, a home-based care program, and a
community school from its compound in a poor area outside the capital city of Lusaka. As a result of this
grant, 20 youth are being trained as peer educators and 20 adult committee members are being trained
in orphan monitoring, community leadership, and mobilization. In addition, 50 community caregivers
are receiving training and 500 children are being fed at the community school.
2001 – $18,000 Firelight funding enables 100 orphans to attend a workshop in entrepreneurship as well as to join a small
business revolving fund. They are receiving skills training courses in tailoring, batik, and handicrafts. The
organization is initiating a peer education program, and a community pharmacy.
CARE FOR CHILDREN IN NEED (CAFCHIN), Lundazi
2003 – $10,000 Care for Children in Need is a community-based organization located in an isolated, rural area. Grant
funding is helping them set up a community resource center. Funds also support a small loan fund for
caregivers and will help create a rural family network in the region. These activities aim to promote
discussion, support, and collaboration for the provision of orphan care in their community.
2001 – $8,000 Grant funds are helping CAFCHIN develop their rural family development program which aims to
provide education in abuse prevention, counseling, life skills, and health promotion to orphans and
vulnerable children in the area.
CHIKANTA COMMUNITY SCHOOLS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, Choma
2002 – $5,000 The primary focus of Chikanta is the provision of free education, via community schools, to orphaned
and other disadvantaged children. Firelight funding is assisting Chikanta with the ongoing management
and maintenance of 10 of their 16 community schools in this very rural location.
CHILD CARE & ADOPTION SOCIETY, CHILENJE TRANSIT HOME, Lusaka
2003 – $8,000 The Chilenje Transit Home is a temporary shelter for orphans and vulnerable children. The home
supports children by reintegrating them into their biological families or securing adoptive parents or
foster care. They receive children from all over the country, although most come from Lusaka. Grant

funding is enabling the Society to send two staff members to a six-month training in psychosocial
counseling, and to provide training to caregivers in hygiene, nutrition for HIV-positive babies and
children, first aid, and counseling for traumatized children.
CHILD HOPE ORGANIZATION, Lusaka
2001 – $5,000 Funds support programming to address the
prevention of HIV/AIDS by holding
educational workshops and promoting
income-generating projects for children.
CHILDREN IN DISTRESS - KALOMO CENTRAL FAMILY
HEALTH TRUST (CINDI-Kalomo), Kalomo
2002 – $5,000 The overall mission of CINDI is to support
orphaned and vulnerable children.
Currently, there are nine branches of the
organization operating throughout Zambia.
Grant funds to the Kalomo branch cover
the facilitation of workshops on incomegenerating
activities for 50 families
providing care to 250 orphans.
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
CHILDREN IN DISTRESS IN KITWE (CINDI-Kitwe), Kitwe
2002 – $8,000 Grant funding is enabling CINDI-Kitwe to
organize anti-AIDS workshops for 500
youth and hold community group meetings
with children and caregivers on HIV/AIDS
issues. In addition, they will begin
implementing program monitoring and
evaluation activities.
CHILDREN OF THE MOST HIGH, Choma
2002 – $10,000 This organization provides shelter, care, and
community support to vulnerable families in
an area with approximately 65 widows and
150 orphans. Funds are supporting the Boys at Fountain of Hope, Lusaka, Zambia
women’s income-generating clubs,
providing school fees, contributing to the building of a community school, and paying the salaries of two
community workers.
© tlmoody

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
DEVELOPMENT AID FROM PEOPLE TO PEOPLE CHILDREN’S TOWN (DAPP), Malambanyama/Lusaka
2002 – $5,000 Two of the most important objectives of DAPP are: 1) to strengthen the capacity of guardians, schools,
and local communities to provide orphans with appropriate and affordable care; and 2) to increase
awareness regarding the rights and needs of orphans. Grant funds help DAPP meet these objectives by
offering psychosocial counseling workshops to 40 caregivers and teachers and life skills workshops to 40
orphans and their caregivers. Funding also covers educational materials and tools for incomegenerating
activities.
ECHOES OF MERCY, Chibuluma/Kitwe
2003 – $3,000 With these grant funds, Echoes of Mercy assists 22 children with school fees, uniforms, and supplies.
Echoes of Mercy will also start a preschool to offer free basic education to 15 orphans and vulnerable
children. The organization is working with local churches to provide training in HIV/AIDS prevention and
raise awareness of orphans and vulnerable children.
FLAME, Lusaka
2002 – $2,000 FLAME runs a community school and temporary shelter catering largely to former street children and
destitute families. Firelight grant money covers improvements to the temporary shelter that serves 40
children.
FOUNTAIN OF HOPE (FOH), Lusaka
2003 – $30,000 Fountain of Hope operates a large shelter and a variety of programs for street children in the heart of
Two-year grant Lusaka. They offer schooling, meals, counseling, and other services to as many as 600 displaced
children. In addition, FOH’s staff members comb the city at night looking for new children living on the
streets who might need assistance and checking in with other familiar street children to assess their
health and well-being. Funding is covering overhead and operational costs for running this
comprehensive outreach program.
$20,000 A second, separate grant is providing technical assistance for organizational development in project
Two-year grant management, financial planning, and strategic planning. It also allows Fountain of Hope to send 13 staff
members to receive further training in social work, business entrepreneurship, counseling, teaching,
cooking, accounting, child psychology, and human resource management.
2001 – $10,500 The grant enables FOH to provide 40 mothers with business skills training and seed money for small
businesses. The grant also pays for 32 children to attend one year of secondary school.
$15,700 With grant funding, FOH is setting up a separate shelter for 25 girl children and covering the costs of
shelter rental, allowances for 2 caretakers, and the purchase of bedding, clothes, and food for the
children.

Robert Chisha speaks eloquently about the difficulties of living on the street from his own painful experience. Now a peer
educator at Fountain of Hope, an outreach program and shelter for street children, he counsels and helps the street kids with
whom he once lived.
Robert’s early years were spent in Kitwe, a town 200 miles north of
the capital city, Lusaka. When he was eight years old, his parents
separated and he moved in with his father and a new stepmother.
The stepmother treated her husband’s children badly, refusing to pay
for their schooling and neglecting them. When Robert’s father got sick
and died, his father’s family took all his property – including the
house.
Robert ran away to his mother, but she was not working and could not
support her children. He left school at grade five and began spending
more and more time on the streets of Kitwe trying to get small jobs to
help his mother and younger siblings. Then his mother got sick and
moved with his younger brothers and sisters to his grandmother’s
village so that she could help care for them. Robert stayed in Kitwe to
try to earn a living, but it soon became too difficult. He decided to go
to Lusaka to find work. Robert recalls, “My life on the street was not
good. I was drinking a lot. I was facing many problems – drugs, sex,
sniffing glue, and violence.”
Peer Educator – Lusaka, Zambia
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
After four long years of living on the streets of Lusaka, Robert met the
outreach workers from Fountain of Hope. “I realized that if I stayed on
the street, I was not going to finish school and find work. I worried
about who was going to look after my brothers and sisters. That is what brought me to Fountain of Hope.” The outreach
workers took Robert to their center and began working with him to turn his life around.
Robert is now an integral member of the Fountain of Hope outreach team and has received training in psychosocial
counseling and in HIV/AIDS peer counseling. His own early experiences on the streets and his effective communication skills
have helped him earn the respect of street children, most of whom have lost the ability to trust. He is a powerful role model
and an articulate advocate for the rights of marginalized children.
“After being [at Fountain of Hope] a while, I was a leader of 250 street kids,” he says. “The other kids would not listen to the
teachers, but they listened to me. I began working at Fountain of Hope because I was on the streets and I understand. I want
to work hard to help the children and I can be a good example to them. Because they know me and they know where I have
come from, I can help them.”

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
JESUS CARES MINISTRIES, Lusaka
2003 – $10,000 Jesus Cares Ministries works with street children, child prostitutes, orphans, children forced into labor,
and any other children under duress and oppression. They currently run a community school that
provides education, health services, and basic necessities to 150 children. However, because of
overcrowding and rising demand, the school needs to increase its capacity. With this grant, Jesus Cares
Ministries is increasing enrollment by 50 students by constructing an additional classroom and
purchasing additional benches and educational materials.
© Jennifer Anderson-Bähr
Zambian grantee-partner meeting, November, 2002

KAOMA CHESHIRE COMMUNITY CARE CENTRE, Kaoma
2002 – $10,000 This Centre is the single source of aid to orphaned children in a 5,000-square kilometer area in western
Zambia. It provides shelter to 88 children under the age of 5, half of whom are infants under 1 year. In
total, they reach 769 children with shelter, food, or education. Funds are covering teachers’ salaries and
supporting 10 family groups of children, allowing siblings to stay together.
2001 – $20,000 This center faced closure in 2001 when a local bank failed and they lost nearly $50,000 in savings. Firelight
funding is helping them sustain the center and open a free community school for orphans. In addition, grant
funds are assisting Kaoma in offering support to community members caring for vulnerable children.
KARA COUNSELING AND TRAINING TRUST (KCTT), Lusaka
2003 – $10,000 Kara Counseling and Training Trust provides counseling services, home-based care, and hospice care to
HIV-affected and infected people. They are using grant funding to expand their current hospice program to
provide a daycare and 24-hour hospice facility specifically for children. Children who are well enough are
brought to the facility during the day and returned to their homes for the night. In addition, KCTT is training
existing hospice staff to care for children living with HIV/AIDS. The grant also covers the cost of training inschool
youth in peer education skills, outreach, and the care and needs of children living with HIV/AIDS.
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
LUAPULA FOUNDATION, Mansa
2003 – $5,000 Luapula Foundation was founded to address the plight of AIDS orphans in the Manza community, a
high-need, underserved area. Grant funding covers food, school fees, and school supplies for children.
It also pays for agricultural supplies, such as seeds and fertilizer, and other income-generating activities
for caregivers.
MULUMBO EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION, Lusaka
2003 – $4,000 Mulumbo works with densely-populated, rural communities to strengthen their capacity to provide
community-based childcare, health, and development services. Currently, they are working in three
regions (Lusaka Province, Central Province, and Western Province) selected because of their high levels
of orphaned and vulnerable children, low levels of services, and community interest in cultivating early
childcare and development programs. With Firelight support, the Foundation is providing integrated,
child-focused training to 35 new members of its Child Care Community Support Groups.
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL AND AGRICULTURAL ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMME (NEAEP), Lusaka
2003 – $5,000 By offering assistance with income-generating activities for caregivers and school fees and supplies for
children, NEAEP aims to help orphans stay in their communities of origin. They aim to build the capacity
of the community to care for children – household by household. The funds cover school fees and
supplies for 15 primary and 15 secondary school pupils and enable NEAEP to train caregivers and
community members on orphan issues.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
NEW HORIZON ORPHANAGE, Lusaka
2002 – $2,000 New Horizon Orphanage strives to meet the life skills and psychosocial needs of girl street children. This
grant is providing training in tailoring, baking, knitting, and housekeeping for 25 girls, ages 7 to 14
years, who are not currently attending school due to lack of financial support, and 10 caregivers.
SENANGA ORPHAN DAY CENTRE, Senanga
2002 – $10,000 Firelight funding in this underserved, rural area allows this school for 175 orphans to build 3 classrooms
and 6 latrines, hold a planning workshop for teachers and management, purchase textbooks, and send
a teacher to a teacher training college.
WILSON’S ORPHANS AND STREET KIDS CENTRE, Chingola
2003 – $3,000 The mission of this all-volunteer organization is to address the needs of over 2,500 orphans and
vulnerable children in the Chingola region by providing primary education, food, clothing, medical care,
housing, and skills training. With Firelight funding, Wilson’s is formalizing their community school and
training 100 volunteers to work in the school.
ZAMBIA RED CROSS SOCIETY (ZRCS), Lusaka
2003 – $4,000 The Zambia Red Cross Society, through their Youth Skills Enterprises Initiative (YSEI), is recruiting and
training 40 “on-the-street” youth and marginalized women with 3 skill-building workshops. In addition,
they are holding four HIV/AIDS and behavior change workshops for all participants. After completion of
the training, YSEI will make small loans to all participants. In addition, they provide information on
sexual health, HIV/AIDS, and high-risk behaviors.

isualize dropping out of school to take care of your mother or father. Then your mother and father die and you’re
passed to your aunt and uncle. They die, too. You’re separated from your siblings, and then you’re forced onto the
streets or into an orphanage or the home of strangers. You’re all alone to grieve, to find your own way, and to survive.
Millions of children in Sub-Saharan Africa already face situations like these, and more join them every day. Up to 20% of all
children in eastern and southern Africa will become orphans by 2010.
For these reasons, Firelight looks for grantee-partners that work to heal
the whole child and who value psychosocial support in their
programming.
The term “psychosocial” refers to the combined mental and social wellbeing
of an individual. Children’s psychological health is profoundly
affected by the loss of a parent. Children with sick parents have to care
for their parents while they cope with their own impending loss. Once
parents die, children rarely get the chance to grieve because they may
have to take on the parents’ responsibilities or leave their home. As a
result, their relationships with others may change, and they may become
depressed and withdrawn or quick to anger and act out.
While meeting children’s basic material needs is an unquestionable Girls at Masiye Camp
priority, we cannot ignore their emotional and mental health needs.
In order for children to develop into healthy adults, it is critical that
we address their physical, mental, emotional, social, developmental, and spiritual needs. Caring for these psychosocial needs
gives children the tools to cope with loss and lead fulfilling, productive lives.
Psychosocial support can be in the form of home visits, group play, peer counseling, children’s events, or educational
theater. The key is to enable children and youth to find a way to express their fears and concerns about their life situation.
For many children and youth, recognizing that they are not alone in struggling with HIV/AIDS is an important step. Thus,
when a parent or caregiver acknowledges that AIDS has affected their family, a child can start to understand and prepare
for the situation.
One highly effective program, The Memory Project, was started by The National Community of Women Living with
HIV/AIDS (NACWOLA) in Uganda to respond to the needs, problems, fears, and uncertainty that children with HIV-positive
parents face. NACWOLA supplies parents with Memory Book kits to help them open up to their children about their HIV status
and their impending deaths. The process of creating the memory books enables parents to inform children of their status and
history which help children to prepare for their parents’ deaths. NACWOLA believes that “unless children have been well
prepared with detailed information about themselves and their family origins, there is a severe risk that fear, confusion, and most
of all loss of identity will compound their grief.” Memory books and memory boxes may contain photographs, treasured family
mementos, and letters containing advice or a parent’s hopes and dreams for their child’s future. The books can also preserve the
© tlmoody

parents’ wishes for the distribution of property and guardianship of
their children. Firelight funding has enabled counselors to work with
143 mothers to create memory books for their children.
Older children sometimes face the biggest burden when
orphaned. They may have to assume the parents’ role for younger
siblings. Masiye Camp in Zimbabwe offers 1,200 teenage
heads-of-household much needed life skills and recreational
activities through an overnight camp program. While at camp,
youth and children get a break from their stressful responsibilities
and meet others with similar pressures. Staff and volunteer
counselors help teenagers express their feelings, enjoy the
outdoors, overcome obstacles, work cooperatively, and become
empowered through these experiences. They also learn parenting,
household management, and coping skills.
Cati Vadwa, Director Children’s Rights Center
In South Africa, the Child Rights Center (CRC)
lobbies for children’s rights and directly supports
the emotional needs of children. With Firelight
funding, they distributed a special Mobile Play Pack
containing toys and practical tools to social
workers, police, and hospital personnel to help
them reach emotionally distressed children. The
toys are chosen to emphasize the links between
play and children’s healing or recovery. CRC
Director Cati Vadwa explains, “By either playing
with children, observing them playing, or talking
about playing, adults can gain insights into
children’s lives that are not possible to have in any
other way.”
© Jennifer Anderson-Bähr
These organizations have pioneered effective
approaches to children’s psychosocial support that
incorporate self-expression, play, life-skills training,
communication tools, and hands-on learning. They
act as models for other organizations seeking to
meet the important emotional needs of AIDSaffected
children.
Mobile Play Packs help social service personnel to reach emotionally
distressed children

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Population 12.9 million
Population under age 18 6.7 million
HIV adult seroprevalence 34%
Orphans as percent of all children 18%
Total number of orphans 1.02 million
Percent of orphans due to AIDS 77%
Total Firelight funding $322,350
Number of grants given 29
Number of grantee-partners 16
Percent of grantees regranted 38%
BETHANY PROJECT, Zvishavane
2002 – $10,000 The Bethany Project extends holistic child-centered care to families struggling with HIV/AIDS in
Zvishavane, Central Zimbabwe. Grant funds are supporting Bethany’s Community-Based Orphan Care
Project, providing educational support, emergency food assistance, youth HIV prevention activities, and
ongoing monitoring of families affected by HIV/AIDS.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
CHILD PROTECTION SOCIETY (CPS), Harare
2003 – $15,000 CPS has a 40-year history in Zimbabwe of providing quality preschool education, as well as residential
care and support to disabled, abandoned, abused, and HIV-infected children. They have played a
leadership role in transitioning support of orphaned children to community-based arrangements.
Firelight funds support CPS’ movement of 60 orphaned and vulnerable children from institutional to
family-based group home care. A portion of the grant is covering palliative care expenses for
terminally ill children.
2001 – $20,000 Grant funding supports the salaries of caregivers, a nurse, cooks, and other personnel. These staff run
the Chinyaradzo Children’s Home (a hospice care facility for terminally-ill infants), serve as house
parents for children in family units, and teach at the Colin John Campbell Preschool Center.
$15,500 This grant purchases a vehicle and the costs of three desktop computers, one printer, and software.
DANANAI CENTRE, Murambinda
2002 – $10,000 Working in a government-designated industrial zone, Dananai Centre conducts community outreach to
meet the needs of more than 1,000 families affected by AIDS. Grant support enables Dananai to
provide school fees to 400 vulnerable children and meet the needs of approximately 80 sick,
homebound children. In addition, funds are supporting 12 day-long community mobilization workshops
to generate support for children in difficult circumstances. Grant funds also allow Dananai to train
community members working with children affected by AIDS in home-based care and psychosocial
support, and to hold a children’s forum for 112 children.
FAMILY AIDS CARING TRUST – CHIREDZI (FACT–Chiredzi), Chiredzi
2003 – $15,000 Chiredzi, a mining area in southeastern Zimbabwe, has been heavily affected by HIV/AIDS. The mine’s
employees are mostly migrant laborers, far from their families, who have discretionary income to spend
on a variety of things, including sex workers. Seventy percent of Chiredzi’s sex workers are HIV-positive.
The Family AIDS Caring Trust operates throughout Zimbabwe, implementing a comprehensive model for
community-based orphan care. This grant, to the Chiredzi branch of FACT, supports 800 orphans with a
combination of material goods (food, blankets, and clothing), home visits, educational expenses,
psychosocial support, and skills training. Funds also cover FACT-Chiredzi’s child-centered advocacy
efforts, training for 1,295 orphans on how to secure birth certificates (necessary for school registration
and claiming property), and training for new caregivers on appropriate care of vulnerable children.
2001 – $8,000 The funds are for an integrated HIV/AIDS prevention and care outreach program that includes
community- and youth-focused education, counseling, home-based and orphan care programs, and
income-generating projects.

© tlmoody
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Tug-of-war at Masiye Camp, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
FARM ORPHAN SUPPORT TRUST OF ZIMBABWE (FOST), Bindura
2002 – $19,800 The wife of a commercial farm owner, passionate about children’s rights, founded FOST to respond to the
special needs of children on commercial farms. This grant provides for the training of six out-of-school youth
in leadership skills, basic counseling, and emergency needs at Masiye Camp (see description, page 85). The
six trained youth serve as peer educators and mentors to approximately 300 younger children affected by
AIDS on six commercial farms. FOST youth leaders guide and support young children through the
bereavement process. They run youth clubs within six farming communities. This grant also supports
networking meetings of the youth leaders and FOST staff and enables FOST to document the youth
leadership process, to include production of a manual and other materials for future use.
GENERAL BOARD OF GLOBAL MINISTRIES, UNITED METHODIST CHURCH (GBGM), Murewa
2003 – $9,000 This grant is assisting four orphan trusts in Murewa that have demonstrated the capacity to provide both
material and economic development opportunities to vulnerable children. Each trust offers a
comprehensive program of outreach and care, including caregiver training on income-generating
activities, educational assistance for orphans, and volunteer training in home-based care.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
GIRL CHILD NETWORK (GCN), Chitungwiza & Rusape
2003 – $30,000 In 1999, several young women and their teacher decided to do something about the gender-based
Two-year grant violence and abuse occurring in their schools, homes, and communities. They formed a girl’s club
named the Girl Child Network. The girls took as their motto, “The Sky is the Limit,” expressing their
quest to realize their dreams by overcoming gender discrimination and sexual violence. This grant
assists with the maintenance and administration of the Rusape Empowerment Village by covering staff
salaries and the purchase of a reliable used vehicle. Funds also support the Girl Child Network’s
efforts to raise local and national awareness of the situation of young women and to offer essential
information and resources to young women struggling to overcome sexual abuse and gender-based
discrimination.
$5,000 A severe regional drought has created an emergency situation in Rusape, and Firelight is making this
emergency assistance grant to enable the Girl Child Network to provide girl children in rural areas with
food and educational assistance.
2002 – $2,500 These funds enable the Girl Child Network to cover final construction costs and to convene a
community-wide celebration ceremony for 1,500 people to open the Rusape Empowerment Village, a
safe space for rehabilitating young female survivors of sexual abuse in rural Zimbabwe.
2001 – $1,800 This grant supports an exchange visit between staff from the Girl Child Network and staff from Fountain
of Hope in Lusaka, Zambia to learn about alternate methods of providing services for the vulnerable
girl-child.
$200 This grant enables girls in the Chitungwiza safe house to start an income-generating project.
$21,200 Firelight support assists the Girl Child Network to build its second safe house in the rural village of
Rusape for girls escaping sexual abuse. Funding also covers counseling workshops for girls’ club
coordinators, to assist them in dealing with sexual abuse issues among club members.
FOUNDATION FOR HOSPICES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA/ISLAND HOSPICE, Harare
2003 – $850 Island Hospice, the first hospice in Zimbabwe, provides end-of-life care. In 1999, recognizing the huge
impact of HIV/AIDS on communities in and around Harare, Island Hospice expanded its efforts to
include a community-based children’s bereavement and counseling program. The Children’s
Bereavement Support Project offers psychosocial support to children who have lost their parents. This
grant enables Island Hospice to send one staff member to the International Children’s Hospice Congress
in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in November, 2002, to share lessons learned from working in small support
groups with children orphaned by AIDS.

“In Sub-Saharan Africa, an HIV-positive infant is born virtually every minute of every day,” Tammy Moody points out.
“Firelight’s partners have pioneered programs that address not only the physical care of HIV-positive children but also their
psychosocial needs.”
Tammy has been a volunteer with the Firelight Foundation from its beginning.
Working tirelessly with an inspiring sense of mission throughout the
foundation’s first two years of operation, Tammy was instrumental in laying the
initial groundwork for Firelight’s grantmaking program. She served as
Firelight Foundation’s volunteer Program Director from March 2000 through
April 2002.
Since 2002, Tammy Moody has continued to raise awareness about the
impact of HIV/AIDS on children and the work that Firelight granteepartners
are doing.
Volunteer – Scotts Valley, California, United States
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Her participation in the July 2000 International Conference on HIV/AIDS
in Durban, followed by site visits in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Rwanda,
Zambia, and Kenya, established key partnerships that led to Firelight’s first
round of grant awards. “Firelight grantees share the firm belief that putting
an infant in a bed with food and supervision but offering no foundation for
emotional attachment fails to meet that child’s basic needs,” she says.
Prior to Firelight, Tammy volunteered as a caregiver for HIV-positive infants
at Bryan’s House in Dallas, Texas, one of the first facilities in the country to
offer services to children and families affected by AIDS. Her experience as a
direct care provider fueled her dedication and informed her work at
Firelight, where the needs of HIV-positive infants – an especially vulnerable
population in Africa – continued to be an issue close to her heart.
© Cheryl Talley-Moon
Tammy believes that the term HIV-positive infant is more than a diagnostic label,
more than a broad way to categorize one group of the many groups of children
affected by HIV/AIDS. “To those of us who have cared for HIV-positive children
who could no longer remain with their parents, the term causes us to remember
images of small fingers and little smiles we have loved. Every infant deserves to
be loved. Every child needs to be bonded with, cherished, held. Every child needs
a family or a family-style nurturing environment, not impersonal
institutionalization.”

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
2002 – $26,000 This funding covers the training of caregivers, hospital workers, and trainers on psychosocial support
Two-year grant techniques. The funds also allow the Hospice to continue its group work with vulnerable children and to
offset administrative costs.
2001 – $33,000 The grant pays for Island Hospice to train and support institutions and communities involved in the care
Two-year grant of orphans and terminally-ill children. The training includes bereavement counseling and therapy for
caregivers of children and support sessions for bereaved children.
J.F. KAPNEK CHARITABLE TRUST, Harare
2003 – $4,900 The J.F. Kapnek Charitable Trust started its Strengthening Science for Women (SSW) scholarship program
15 years ago with the goal of increasing the number of young women entering medicine and the allied
health professions. Since 1989, more than 200 women have participated in the program; more than
one-third of them have completed their university or medical education. This grant represents the second
of two years of scholarship support for 15 young female students who are completing pre-university
studies in anticipation of pursuing careers in the health sciences.
2001 – $9,800 The funds are for 15 secondary school scholarships for young women affected by or orphaned by HIV/
AIDS who are pursuing education in the medical and health sciences.
MAVAMBO TRUST, Harare
2003 – $10,000 Firelight funding enables Mavambo Trust to construct offices for staff and volunteers and space for
meetings with children and families seeking assistance. The Mavambo Learning Centre offers
comprehensive assistance – including educational support, counseling, and food relief – to families
affected by HIV/AIDS in Mabvuku and Tafara, high-density suburbs of Harare.
MOTHER OF PEACE COMMUNITY, Mutoko
2002 – $7,800 Mother of Peace Community has built 8 houses to shelter 155 vulnerable children. This grant enables
the organization to engage the broader community by conducting participatory workshops to raise
awareness about children affected by AIDS, training families on practical skills to meet the needs of
orphans and vulnerable children, and offering economic empowerment opportunities. The program will
reach more than 200 vulnerable children on rural homesteads.
NEHEMIAH PROJECT, Bulawayo
2003 – $7,000 The Nehemiah Project works with children in Sauerstown, an extremely poor community outside of
Bulawayo. Nehemiah identifies and offers ongoing outreach to children at risk of becoming street
children or runaways. With this funding, Nehemiah Project supports 140 children living on the streets or
in child-headed households through community outreach and mobilization. They are establishing dropin
centers where children can obtain food, clothing, counseling, school fees, and materials. Funds also

cover the salaries of two community workers who visit the children regularly. Finally, they are recruiting
community members to invest in the care and education of children.
SALVATION ARMY MASIYE CAMP, Bulawayo
2002 – $10,000 Masiye Camp’s program supports youth affected by AIDS by training young people who are heads of
households on leadership skills, helping them cope with personal loss, and offering them a recreational
outlet. Masiye Camp is recognized as regional center of excellence for providing emotional, legal, and
life skills support for children affected by HIV. Firelight’s grant supports the Camp’s emergency fund,
which enables camp counselors to address urgent needs for assistance presented to them by camp
participants. Funding also covers the food expenses for 12 Life Skills camps, reaching 1,200 youth.
2001 – $4,500 With the grant, Masiye Camp is establishing an emergency fund that will assist over 200 orphans who
participate in camp activities.
$6,700 Grant funds enable the Camp to create ten eating areas to improve psychosocial interactions of children
and their counselors.
GRANTS 2000 – 2003
SCRIPTURE UNION / CHIEDZA STREET CHILDREN’S PROGRAM, Bulawayo
2003 – $5,800 Scripture Union, a nondenominational Christian group, has been working with children, youth, and families in
Zimbabwe for 56 years. Their recent interest in street children’s issues has led them to develop an area of
expertise in working with this marginalized population. Having discovered that many of the children ending up
on the streets of the nation’s largest cities were from two provinces, they began to work with youth in those
areas to prevent them from leaving home. Chiedza is one of those areas. Firelight funding for Scripture
Union’s Chiedza Street Children’s Program provides materials for a drop-in center, including clothes, first aid
supplies, toiletries, and equipment. Funds also support administrative costs and staff allowances.
ST. AGNES GOKWE CHILDREN’S HOME, Gokwe South
2002 – $1,000 St. Agnes Gokwe Children’s Home is a residential care facility for orphans in the isolated rural
community of Gokwe. This grant pays for furniture to upgrade the facilities at the Home.
UNITED CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF SOUTHERN AFRICA / BONGANI ORPHAN CARE PROGRAMME,
Bulawayo
2002 – $12,000 These funds enable Bongani Orphan Care Programme to offer organizational development training to
12 church groups with newly-established programs for children affected by AIDS. Training includes
strategies for responding to the impact of the AIDS crisis on children in the local context. Through these
programs, more than 150 volunteers will reach approximately 1,000 children with vocational training,
psychosocial support, and emergency assistance. Bongani Orphan Care Programme’s direct services
and training activities reach 7,500 children living in Bulawayo and neighboring rural areas.

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
2000
USA
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation $12,500
Moxie Firecracker Films $10,000
2001
Cameroon
Cameroon Medical Women Association (CMWA) $20,000
North American Baptist Conference (CBC) $20,000
Kenya
Catholic Diocese of Kitui $5,000
Catholic Diocese of Kitui $15,000
Global Strategies for HIV Prevention $7,000
Kibera Community Self-Help Programme
(KICOSHEP) $21,000
Mapendo and Action Women Association
(MAWA) $50,000
Pandipieri Community Health Programme
(PCHP) $15,000
Positive Widows in Kenya (POWIK) $5,000
Rural Education and Economic
Enhancement Programme (REEP) $30,000
Saidia Furaha Organization (SFO) $6,500
Teenage Mothers and Children
Family Health Care Prog. (TEMAC) $2,500
WEM Integrated Health Services (WEMIHS) $11,600
Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya (WOFAK) $5,000
World Internet Resources for Education
and Development (WiRED) $7,350
Namibia
Catholic AIDS Action (CAA) $20,000
Rwanda
Association des Femmes Chefs
de Familles: Giribanga (AFCF-Giribanga) $13,400
Benishyaka Association $40,000
South Africa
Association François-Xavier Bagnoud (AFXB) $5,000
Botshabelo Babies Home $8,700
Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa, Inc.
(FHSSA)/South Coast Hospice $48,000
Tanzania
Maryknoll Sisters, Musoma $8,000
Maryknoll Sisters, Musoma and nearby areas $8,500
Maryknoll Sisters, Mwanza $3,500
Uganda
National Coalition of Women Living with AIDS (NACWOLA) $20,000
St. Agnes Catholic Women’s Guild $11,500
St. Francis Health Care Services $10,000
USA
Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF) $10,000
Jacob’s Heart $9,549
Zambia
Anglican Street Children Project $5,000
Bwafwano Community Home-Based Care Org. (BHBCHCP) $18,000
Care for Children in Need (CAFCHIN) $8,000
Child Hope Organization $5,000
Fountain of Hope (FOH) $10,500
Fountain of Hope (FOH) $15,700
Kaoma Cheshire Community Care Center $20,000
Zimbabwe
Child Protection Society (CPS) $15,500
Child Protection Society (CPS) $20,000
Family AIDS Caring Trust, Chiredzi (FACT-Chiredzi) $8,000
Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa, Inc.
(FHSSA)/Island Hospice $33,000
Girl Child Network (GCN) $200
Girl Child Network (GCN) $1,800
Girl Child Network (GCN) $21,200
J.F. Kapnek Charitable Trust $9,800
Salvation Army Masiye Camp $4,500
Salvation Army Masiye Camp $6,700
2002
Ethiopia
Global Strategies for HIV Prevention $5,000
Kenya
Global Strategies for HIV Prevention $2,200
Global Strategies for HIV Prevention $3,900
Kibera Community Self-Help Programme
(KICOSHEP) $5,000
Mama Darlene Children’s Centre
and Community Development Projects $5,000
Rural Education and Economic Enhancement
Programme (REEP) $30,000

Teenage Mothers and Children
Family Health Care Programme (TEMAC) $3,000
World Internet Resources for Education
and Development (WiRED) $2,800
Malawi
Zomba Diocese Home Based Care Programme $6,100
Rwanda
Association d’Appui aux Groupements
dans le Domaine Socio-Économique (AGS) $10,000
Association des Femmes Chefs de Familles: Giribanga
(AFCF-Giribanga) $4,000
Association de Soutiens aux Rescapés du Génocide
(ASRG-MPORE) $18,500
Benishyaka Association $40,000
South Africa
Botshabelo Babies Home $17,600
Children’s Rights Centre (CRC) $14,000
Greater Nelspruit Rape Intervention Programme (GRIP) $20,000
Tanzania
Maryknoll Sisters, Musoma $10,000
Maryknoll Sisters, Musoma and nearby areas $10,500
Maryknoll Sisters, Mwanza $5,000
WAMATA Sengerema $3,000
Uganda
Blessed Martyrs Orphanage Centre $4,700
Centre for Environment Technology
and Rural Development (CETRUD) $5,000
Friends of Christ Revival Ministries (FOC-REV) $10,000
Kyetume Community Based Health Care
Programme $5,000
Student’s Self-Helper Initiative (SSHINE) $5,000
Youth Alive Club $11,800
USA
Jacob’s Heart $3,801
Zambia
Anglican Street Children Project $5,000
Chikanta Community Schools Development Project (CCSDP) $5,000
Children in Distress-Kalomo Central Family Health Trust
(CINDI-Kalomo) $5,000
Children in Distress in Kitwe (CINDI-Kitwe) $8,000
Children of the Most High $10,000
Development Aid from People to People
Children’s Town (DAPP) $5,000
FLAME $2,000
Kaoma Cheshire Community Care Center $10,000
New Horizon Orphanage $2,000
Senanga Orphan Day Centre $10,000
Zimbabwe
Bethany Project $10,000
Dananai Centre $10,000
Farm Orphan Support Trust of Zimbabwe (FOST) $19,800
Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa, Inc.
(FHSSA)/Island Hospice $26,000
Girl Child Network (GCN) $2,500
Mother of Peace Community $7,800
Salvation Army Masiye Camp $10,000
St. Agnes Gokwe Children’s Home $1,000
United Congregational Church of Southern Africa/
Bongani Orphan Care Programme $12,000
2003
Cameroon
Cameroon Medical Women Association (CMWA) $10,000
Ethiopia
Hope for Children Organization (HFC) $10,000
Jerusalem Children and Community
Development Organization (JeCCDO) $15,000
Kenya
Grassroots Alliance for Community Education (GRACE) $3,000
Grassroots Alliance for Community Education (GRACE) $27,000
Kibera Community Self-Help Programme (KICOSHEP) $15,000
Pandipieri Community Health Programme (PCHP) $15,000
Rural Education and Economic Enhancement
Programme (REEP) $3,000
Rural Education and Economic Enhancement
Programme (REEP) $15,000
Saidia Furaha Organization (SFO) $10,000
WEM Integrated Health Services (WEMIHS) $15,000
World Internet Resources for Education
and Development (WiRED) $10,000
Lesotho
Lesotho Save the Children (LSC) $10,000
Lesotho Youth For Christ (YFC) $8,000
Tsepong Counselling Centre $7,000
Tšosane Support Group $3,000
GRANTS 2000 – 2003

GRANTS 2000 – 2003
Malawi
CADECOM Chikwawa $6,000
The Federation of Disability Organizations
in Malawi (FEDOMA) $8,000
Rumphi HIV/AIDS Education Awareness Project (REAP) $3,000
Salima HIV/AIDS Support Organization (SASO) $8,700
Namibia
Catholic AIDS Action (CAA) $20,000
Catholic AIDS Action (CAA) $4,000
Rwanda
Association des Femmes Chefs de Familles: Giribanga
(AFCF-Giribanga) $15,000
Association de Soutiens aux Rescapés du Génocide
(ASRG-MPORE) $1,500
Bamporeze $8,000
Benishyaka Association $15,000
Diocese Catholique de Cyangugu $3,800
Project EER/SNEP $10,000
Remera Catholic Contre le SIDA (RECASIDA) $5,600
Rwanda Women Community Development Network (RWN) $8,000
South Africa
Association François-Xavier Bagnoud (AFXB) $12,000
Belabela Welfare Society $3,000
Empilweni Project $7,800
Fikelela Children Centre $4,000
Ikamva Labantu $8,000
Kakaretso Development and Training Trust $7,000
Millennium Home of Hope $9,000
The Nceduluntu Sanctuary Trust (NST) $4,000
Pietermaritzburg Child Welfare Community Care Project
(PMBCWS) $8,000
Sakhisizwe/Grahamstown Foundation $4,000
Sinosizo Home Based Care $10,000
Vuleka $10,000
Tanzania
Butogwa Women’s Health and Development Association
(BUWOHEDE) $4,000
Diocese of Southern Highlands (DSH) $4,500
Elimu, Michezo na Mazoezi (EMIMA) $7,500
Lake Nyanza Environmental and Sanitation
Organization (LANESO) $8,800
Makiungu Community Based Home Care (CBHC) $4,000
Orphans Development Programme International (ODPI) $4,500
Tuamoyo Family Children’s Centre, St. Alban’s
Street Children Society (TFCC) $4,500
Uganda
Centre for Environment Technology
and Rural Development (CETRUD) $15,000
National Coalition of Women Living with AIDS (NACWOLA) $5,000
National Coalition of Women Living with AIDS (NACWOLA) $15,000
St. Francis Health Care Services $15,000
USA
Youth Philanthropy Worldwide (YPW) $36,500
Zambia
Anglican Diocese of Lusaka $2,100
Bwafwano Community Home-Based
Care Organization (BHBCHCP) $15,000
Care for Children in Need (CAFCHIN) $10,000
Child Care & Adoption Society, Chilenje Transit Home $8,000
Echoes of Mercy $3,000
Fountain of Hope (FOH) $20,000
Fountain of Hope (FOH) $30,000
Jesus Cares Ministries $10,000
Kara Counselling and Training Trust (KCTT) $10,000
Luapula Foundation $5,000
Mulumbo Early Childhood Care and Development Foundation $4,000
National Educational and Agricultural
Enhancement Programme (NEAEP) $5,000
Wilson’s Orphans and Street Kids Centre $3,000
Zambia Red Cross Society (ZRCS) $4,000
Zimbabwe
Child Protection Society (CPS) $15,000
Family AIDS Caring Trust, Chiredzi (FACT-Chiredzi) $15,000
Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa, Inc./
Island Hospice $850
General Board of Global Ministries,
the United Methodist Church (GBGM) $9,000
Girl Child Network (GCN) $5,000
Girl Child Network (GCN) $30,000
J.F. Kapnek Charitable Trust $4,900
Mavambo Trust $10,000
Nehemiah Project $7,000
Scripture Union Zimbabwe/Chiedza Street
Children’s Program (SUZ) $5,800

In our first 4 years of operation, the Firelight Foundation made over $1.8 million in grants to community-based organizations in the
United States and 12 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Our financial philosophy incorporates a strategy of conservative portfolio
management, low overhead, and active fundraising efforts in order to maximize our grantmaking dollars.
2000 – Firelight’s Endowment
The initial funding of the Firelight endowment took place at the end of 1999, and with additional funds in 2000, totaled US$12.7
million. Further funding from our founders took place in 2002.
In late 2000, Northern Trust Bank was selected to manage the foundation’s investments. Their team of analysts has created an
actively managed diversified portfolio of securities that is appropriate to our tax-exempt status. Unlike many private foundations,
Firelight does not have a concentrated position in any single security, creating much lower volatility in the endowment, and thus a
relatively predictable level of grantmaking.
In FY 2000, we made two grants to U.S.-based charities. Our greatest expenditure in FY 2000 was the payment of the federal excise
tax on our original endowment.
2001 – Firelight’s First African Grants
Firelight’s first full year of grantmaking benefited from low overhead, utilizing a small office space and primarily volunteer labor. This
allowed us to make a sizable number of grants without endangering the endowment. By mid-year, Firelight decided to hire a director.
In FY 2001, Firelight awarded 47 grants in 9 African countries and the United States for a total of $636,302.
2002 – Fewer Dollars, Smaller Grants
2002 was not a kind year for investors, although Firelight was able to weather this period relatively well due to the decision to hold a
significant amount of the endowment in cash during the initial fall in the markets. The value of our portfolio significantly rebounded in
2003, as the financial details later in this report demonstrate. As the success of our community-based approach to funding became
apparent, we hired two program staff and began targeted fundraising activities to expand our grantmaking capacity.
In FY 2002, Firelight awarded 46 grants in 8 African countries and the United States for a total of $449,269.
2003 – Individual and Foundation Contributions
From its inception, Firelight has been fortunate to receive unsolicited donations from generous donors. We’ve also worked hard to develop
partnerships with other private foundations that share our philosophy. These contributions and a series of very successful fundraising events
in FY 2003 helped increase our grantmaking budget. As our entire overhead (as well as a portion of our grantmaking) is paid from our
endowment, we are able to apply 100% of external funds to grants, making Firelight very attractive to donors.
In FY 2003, Firelight awarded 78 grants in 12 African countries and the United States totaling $720,800.
2004 – Future Developments
Firelight expects to award approximately $1 million in grants in FY 2004. This will be possible due to private donor and foundation
contributions made after the close of the FY 2003 grant cycle as well as the returning health of our endowment. Fundraising activities
should further increase our grantmaking abilities.
Please note that all of the foundation’s audited financial statements are available to the public.
FINANCIALS & ABOUT US

Firelight Foundation – Four-Year Comparison for the Fiscal Years Ended September 30, 2000 through 2003
FINANCIALS & ABOUT US
ASSETS
2000* 2001* 2002 2003
Current Assets 13,543,665 12,343,304 10,012,402 11,162,431
Property and Equipment, net - 6,698 53,881 38,369
Other Assets - 1,085 7,547 6,000
Total Assets 13,543,665 12,351,087 10,073,830 11,206,800
LIABILITIES
Accounts Payable 8,049 1,703 19,957 24,108
Grants Payable 3,412 - 43,601 146,750
Total Current Liabilities 11,461 1,703 63,558 170,858
NET ASSETS 13,532,204 12,349,384 10,010,272 11,035,942
* Unaudited years.

2000* 2001* 2002 2003
PUBLIC SUPPORT AND REVENUE
Founders’ Support 12,678,076 - 476,685 -
Public Support 8,074 700 14,322 284,592
Foundation Support - - - 317,250
Revenue from Investments 1,172,871 (365,747) (1,930,442) 1,742,754
Total Public Support and Revenue 13,859,021 (365,047) (1,439,435) 2,344,596
EXPENSES
Grants Awarded 22,500 636,302 449,269 720,800
Program Services - 134,132 263,842 347,945
1
General and Administrative 304,317 47,339 129,565 204,040
Fundraising - - 29,808 46,141
Total Expenses 326,817 817,773 872,484 1,318,926
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS 13,532,204 (1,182,820) (2,311,919) 1,025,670
1
In 2000, Firelight paid $278,195 in federal excise tax on the original endowment.
* Unaudited years.
FINANCIALS & ABOUT US
Foundation Support
14%
Public Support
12%
Investments
74%
Grants Awarded
55%
Fundraising
4%
General and Administrative
15%
Program Services
26%
REVENUE 2003
EXPENSES 2003

FINANCIALS & ABOUT US

INDIVIDUALS
Page Allen & Nat Owings
Anonymous
Laura Arntson
Jennifer Astone
Judy Astone & Donald Patten
Antonia Astone-Weissbein
Michael Astone & Bettina Wromar
Roger & Carolyn Ayers
Russell Ayers
Terry Baugh
Michael Beesley
Lisa Berry
Caitlin Brune
Tom & Lore Burger
Kelly Campbell Hinshaw
Rose Campbell
Lawrence Carbone & David Takacs
Peter & Denise Castro
Elizabeth Clearwater
Sandra Clemens
Mary Lou Cook
Michelle Coons
Claudia Cornish
Janet & Bill Cornyn
Brooke Dulaney
Martha Egan
Kylie Fauth
Sunny & Bob Feinerman
Merry Foss
Pat & Michael French
Betsy Gaiser
Sheila Giblin
Alexis Girard
Soma Glick
Ann Gubser
Florence Hable
Jim Hayes
Monika Henderson
Tricia Hill
Karl Horn
David Imboden & Kathy Levy
Stephanie Jones
A. Edward & Jeanette Katz
Bill King
Martin King
Laura Langdon
Nicole Lewin
Ali MacGraw
Scott Mackie
Athi Mara
Judy Margolis
Marie Martone Farrand
Elone Miller
Tammy & David Moody
Karen Anne Murray
Jackie Nelson
Albert & Mary Nibbe
Mark Zaplin and Richard Lampert, co-owners of Zaplin-Lampert Gallery in Santa Fe, New
Mexico, made the first public donation in support of Firelight’s work in January 2000. Left to right:
David Katz, Kerry Olson, Mark Zaplin, and Jeff Thurston.
Tasha Ostrander
Kelley Owen & Don Wixiott
Nathaniel Owings
Hester Parker & Dan Shapiro
Marilyn & Ed Pollock
Laurence Ravat
Jane Reid
Dana Rice
Lynn Roberts
Mary & Will Robertson
Victoria Rogers
© Cheryl Talley-Moon
FINANCIALS & ABOUT US

FINANCIALS & ABOUT US
Janet Rossi
Toni Schick
Sally Scott & James Potash
Hayward Simoneaux
Barbara Siracusa
Thomas Skibo
Richard Skurla
Joanne Smalley
Jane Smith
Stacy Smith-Paynter & Michael Paynter
Suzanne Staver Adams
Paul & Julie Traina
Bill & Louisa Trigg
Randy Trigg
Matt Tucker
Sharon Veltman
Beth Verhey
Marion Wasserman
Peter & Deborah Wexler
Laura Widmar
Robbie Williams
John & Jan Williamson
Melissa Wilson
Kyle Wipp
David & Cathy Wittbrodt
BUSINESSES
Adobe on Green Street
Astone’s Protea
Carried Away
Community Printers of Santa Cruz
French & French Fine Properties
Origins
Owings Dewey Company
SantaCafé
Zaplin-Lampert Gallery
FOUNDATIONS
Aloha Foundation
Argentarius Foundation
Bridgeway Charitable Foundation
The Community Foundation Serving
Boulder County
The Hesperian Foundation
Marvin Naiman and Margery Goldman
Fund
The Seattle Foundation, CGMK Fund
The William H. & Mattie Wattis Harris
Foundation
OTHER GROUPS
Hamline University School of Law,
Children’s Rights Association
GIFTS IN HONOR OF
Jennifer Astone
Jennifer Astone & Marty Vaden
Judy Astone
Mary Jo & Don Frickel
Carrie, Mark, Nathan
& Audrey Fuentes
Paul Gubser
Johnny Neukomon
Kerry Olson & Dave Katz
Maya Owings & Emily Otis Barnes
George & Diane Shapiro
Melody Shapiro
Stefanie Shapiro
Bill & Louisa Trigg
Claire Weissbein
Mark Zaplin
FIRELIGHT FOUNDATION ADVISED FUND
AT THE TIDES FOUNDATION, SAN FRANCISCO
In August 2003, the Firelight Foundation established an Advised
Fund at the TIDES Foundation to facilitate donations from donor
advised funds or private foundations.
As of September 30, 2003, the Firelight Foundation Advised Fund
received $107,500. Firelight’s grant recommendations to TIDES
are reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors of the
TIDES Foundation. Consequently, eligible Firelight grantees can
receive matching grants from the TIDES Foundation.

Donor – Seattle, Washington, United States
As the founder of Tegic Communications, Martin helped invent a text input technology for cellular phones. Martin’s other
professional experience includes developing communication technologies for people with severe physical disabilities. His
interest in social justice led him to become involved in the International Engagement Group of the Seattle-based Social
Venture Partners Group. The Social Venture Partners Group builds partnerships with schools and nonprofits, contributing
financial support, volunteer hours, and hands-on expertise. He is
also one of the founders of The Film Connection, a nonprofit
organization that makes international and documentary films
available to people as a way to engage them in global issues.
Martin King first learned about the Firelight Foundation in March
2002 after attending The Global Philanthropy Forum on Borderless
Giving in Palo Alto, California. Since then, he has contributed both
his financial support and his expertise as an engaged and informed
donor to Firelight.
“Successful philanthropy, like so many other things, depends almost entirely on acting with and through other people,” Martin
explains. “Most of us simply don’t have the experience to effect the changes that we know are needed. When I heard a
presentation by Jennifer Astone I knew immediately that a grant to the Firelight Foundation would be invested well. Jennifer’s
experience… makes her uniquely qualified to carry out Firelight’s vision of supporting African children affected by HIV/AIDS.
FINANCIALS & ABOUT US
“I also strongly endorse Firelight’s approach to funding grassroots community projects. Indeed, I believe this may be the only way
to succeed with international aid and development. Firelight’s network of trusted local organizations is a wonderful resource.
Firelight has chosen the most difficult challenge. They are taking action and taking responsibility where most of us cannot even
find hope. And in the end they create hope. Firelight reminds me of those passionate, dedicated individuals who meet a lifechallenge
and refuse to turn away.
The Foundation shows compassion, courage, conviction, and wisdom. I am inspired by their work and deeply honored to be
able to help.”

Kerry Olson, Ph.D., President
Kerry Olson, Ph.D., is co-founder and President of the Firelight Foundation. She and her husband, David Katz, founded the
Firelight Foundation in 1999. Kerry has dedicated much of her life to supporting children’s rights and needs — as a mother,
an early childhood educator, a child advocate, and a research social scientist.
FINANCIALS & ABOUT US
David Katz, Vice President, Treasurer
Dave Katz is a senior software engineer at a Silicon Valley internet infrastructure company. Dave and his wife, Kerry Olson,
established the Firelight Foundation out of their shared sense of social responsibility towards those in need.
Debra Evans, Secretary
Debra L. Evans, board secretary, has worked in the field of women’s and children’s health for over twenty years. She has
published 21 books and numerous articles and is also a certified childbirth educator. She has served on many task forces and
boards in her field at the state and national level. Debra is the sister of Kerry Olson.
Nancy Shallow, Member
Nancy Shallow, J.D., is a senior consultant specializing in employment practices risk management for a global human
resources consulting firm. She is a strong advocate for children’s fundamental human rights, and is the sister of Kerry Olson.
Geoff Foster, Mutare, Zimbabwe
Geoff Foster, M.D., is an expert on healthcare and other forms of support for children affected by HIV/AIDS. He is the founder
of the Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT), one of the first AIDS service organizations in Africa. His programs are considered by
UNICEF to be model approaches to community-based care for orphans. Dr. Foster consults with many international
organizations on programming for orphans and vulnerable children.
Stefan Germann, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Stefan Germann is an innovator of programs that support children and youth affected by HIV/AIDS in southern Africa. He
founded Masiye Camp, a program for the psychosocial support of orphans and vulnerable children through adventure-based
learning. Mr. Germann helped found the Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative (REPSSI), an organization working to
enhance and increase existing psychosocial support programs for children affected by AIDS throughout southern Africa.
Tim Jackson, London, England
Tim Jackson is a journalist and writer based in London who has also started a successful technology company and managed a
venture capital fund. As founder of the Argentarius Foundation, a private charity, Mr. Jackson was introduced to the issues

facing orphans and vulnerable children. His
research into funding community-based projects led
him to the Firelight Foundation. Business Week
recently named Mr. Jackson one of “The 50 Most
Influential People in Europe.”
Natasha Martin, Half Moon Bay, California
Natasha Martin, F.I.M.L.S., has 20 years of
scientific research experience in genetics,
endocrinology, and immunology, as well as
extensive experience in interdisciplinary project
management in HIV-related clinical research. She
is co-founder and President of Grassroots
Association for Community Education (GRACE), an
organization that works to develop leadership
within African communities to fight HIV/AIDS.
Suzi Peel, Boston, Massachusetts (2000-2002)
Suzi Peel, a long-time advocate for children affected
by AIDS, is Associate Director for Orphans and
Vulnerable Children Programs at Family Health
Advisory Board Meeting in Santa Cruz, California
International. She has worked as scientific
coordinator of several international AIDS conferences and consulted widely for agencies such as UNAIDS and the International
Federation of the Red Cross. She founded the Pendulum Project and served as Executive Director of the François-Xavier
Bagnoud US Foundation.
© Cheryl Talley-Moon
FINANCIALS & ABOUT US
Beatrice Were, Kampala, Uganda
Beatrice Were is a member of the National Community of Women Living With HIV/AIDS (NACWOLA) in Uganda. She served
as its National Coordinator for six years. While working with NACWOLA, Ms. Were initiated the Memory Book Project, which
enables women and their children to discuss HIV/AIDS and death openly and save family histories and childhood memories by
writing them down in a book. Ms. Were is a mother living with HIV.
John Williamson, Washington, D.C. — Visiting Scholar, August 2003 Advisory Board Meeting
John Williamson is a senior technical advisor for the Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF) of the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID). After 10 years with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), he now
consults for UNICEF and USAID. Mr. Williamson co-authored Children Isolated by AIDS (1997) and Children on the Brink
2000: Updated Estimates and Recommendations for Action.

FINANCIALS & ABOUT US
Jennifer Astone, Director
Jennifer Astone, Ph.D., is an
applied anthropologist who has
been focused on human rights and
community-based development in
Sub-Saharan Africa since 1985.
Prior to joining the Firelight
Foundation in 2001, she worked
for the Global Fund for Women
and the African Development
Foundation.
Jennifer Anderson-Bähr,
Senior Program Officer
Jennifer Anderson-Bähr, M.I.A. has
worked on HIV/AIDS and its impact
in Africa since 1988. From 1991-
2000, she lived in South Africa and Left to right: Cheryl Talley-Moon, Jennifer Anderson-Bähr, Jennifer Astone, and Caitlin Brune
Lesotho, working with international
and indigenous organizations focused on community-based HIV/AIDS prevention and care.
Caitlin Brune, Program Officer
Caitlin Brune, M.P.H., has focused on maternal and child community-based healthcare since 1992, including work in Kenya,
Ghana, and Zimbabwe. Her previous experience includes work with a foundation in Zimbabwe on efforts to prevent motherto-child
transmission of HIV.
© Josh Dankoff
Tammy Moody (2000–2002)
Tammy Moody served on a volunteer basis as Firelight’s first Program Director. She has worked for various nonprofit
organizations and has a special interest in those focusing on the needs of children affected by AIDS. Prior to Firelight, Tammy
was a volunteer caregiver to children affected by HIV/AIDS at Bryan’s House in Dallas, Texas.
Cheryl Talley-Moon, Administrative Assistant
Cheryl Talley-Moon has worked in the field of alternative medicine and with Alzheimer’s patients.
Lynn Brisson, Accountant
Lynn Brisson, C.P.A., has eight years of experience working with local non-profit organizations.

Firelight would like to acknowledge and
warmly thank the many individuals who
have volunteered their time and insight
by providing assessments, references,
and referrals as part of our application
and due diligence process.
Karen Ande
Judy Astone
Tristan Bähr
Charles Baumann
Melissa Booth
Marilyn Breiling
Gail Brenner
Patrick Bujold
Brian Corser
Pat French
Jim Hayes
Michele Hutton
Haideh Khorammabadi
Ali MacGraw
Laura Marcus
Judy Margolis
Charlene McKowen
Bob Moon
Tammy Moody
Joep Reubens
Steven Rutherford
Lee Slaff
Jennifer Smith
Darrell Steely
Deb Steinkamp
Jo Tams
Chuck Tremper
Marty Vaden
Caregivers at Mama Darlene’s in Kenya
Picture of 3 old Ladies
Sister Bernadette Nealon, Pandipieri Community Health Programme, Kisumu, Kenya
© Karen Ande
FINANCIALS & ABOUT US

Volunteer – Aptos, California, United States
Judy Astone volunteers every Thursday at the Firelight Foundation’s office in Santa Cruz, California. She brings to the
foundation 25 years of experience in the nonprofit and education sectors and has provided invaluable assistance, direction,
and moral support to the organization.
FINANCIALS & ABOUT US
One of Judy’s first projects at Firelight was working on the Pen Pal
Exchange, where she established links between schools and teachers in the
United States and Africa and wrote the Pen Pal newsletter. More recently
she has assisted the organization with fundraisers and office work. “What I
like best about working at Firelight is that I feel my work is directly
contributing to people in Africa,” Judy explains, “because there is no
bureaucracy and because Kerry [Olson, Founder and President] and
Jennifer [Astone, Director] have such a clear vision about the mission of
the Foundation. The work is both fun and exciting.”
Judy’s nonprofit career started when she volunteered as a docent at the
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. She was eventually hired
to run the 200-member volunteer docent program at the museum, training
docents on how to engage school children and adults with the history and
nature exhibits in the museum’s 28 halls. She later ran the museum’s
membership and outreach programs and served as an advisor to a number
of California non-profit organizations. Judy ultimately started her own
consulting business and worked for a variety of nonprofit organizations,
helping them with membership, marketing, volunteers, and outreach
programs. Firelight has had the benefit of her administrative and
fundraising expertise since 2001 when her daughter, Jennifer, accepted the
position of director. “I have seen Firelight grow from one and a half
employees to the full-time staff we have now,” Judy comments. “I have also
seen the vision continually acted on and the number of grantees increase.
© Tristan Bähr
“The two causes in my life are education and children,” Judy says, “so working
with Firelight fits right into both of those. Every time I work for Firelight, I learn
something new about a different country. I get to hear stories about the
grantees and it is clear that Firelight is doing good outreach. It has been my
pleasure to meet [African] people who are happy and outgoing, living in what
we would call ‘poverty’ with almost no infrastructure. I think that more
Americans should go to Africa – or any third world country – and spend some
time in a village. It makes you appreciate your life, and makes you less
judgmental of other people.”

Throughout Africa, thousands of community-based organizations are addressing the needs of children and families made
vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. These organizations are strengthening the traditional safety net of the extended family and the
caregiving capacities of the local community through a range of vital programs and services. Often operating with minimal
funding and with a great deal of volunteer support, community-based groups are the frontline response to the needs of
children affected by AIDS. Yet very few funds are reaching this grassroots level, where even small dollar amounts can make a
tremendous difference.
WHY INVEST IN COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS
Orphanages are costly to maintain and can only serve a small percentage of the large numbers of children orphaned by
HIV/AIDS. More importantly, institutional care does not meet the developmental and long-term needs of young people. By
separating children from vital sources of their identity and support – their extended families and communities – orphanages fail
to prepare them for independent life. Investing in community-based organizations strengthens communities and enables
children to benefit from the care, personal attention, and socialization that family and community life provide.
WHAT YOUR MONEY CAN DO
100% of your donation to Firelight will go towards funding
grassroots organizations and supporting the needs of
children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa:
• For less than $75, you can provide tuition, a uniform,
and books for an elementary school student for one year.
• $200 funds a workshop on HIV/AIDS prevention for 50
youth, who then act as peer educators, raising
awareness in their communities.
• $500 provides start-up capital via a rotating fund to
five families as they undertake small business ventures
to improve their economic security as caregivers.
• $1,000 supports the annual salary of a community
coordinator of outreach activities to children affected by
HIV/AIDS.
• $5,000 to $10,000 provides a year of operating
support to many of Firelight’s volunteer-led
organizations.
Caregiver and child in Kenya
© Karen Ande
MAKING A DIFFERENCE

OTHER WAYS THAT YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
• Educate Yourself
Firelight’s work is guided by the shared principles set forth in the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child and
Principles for Programming (see page 9). Please visit our website at www.firelightfoundation.org to access these documents
and to learn more about children and AIDS.
• Educate Your Community
Give a presentation to a community group or your faith-based community. Invite family and friends over to discuss
HIV/AIDS in Africa. Distribute the UNICEF fact sheet, available online at:
www.unicef.org/aids/publications/fact-sheet-orphan-en.pdf
• Act
Show your support for an organization doing effective work to address the pandemic and its consequences by giving your
time, talents, or expertise.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
• Advocate
Write a letter, encouraging increased funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. To find out more
about the Global Fund, visit their website at: www.globalfundatm.org
WAYS TO SUPPORT THE FIRELIGHT FOUNDATION
Firelight can receive donations for direct support of its grantmaking efforts in a variety of ways. Donations made to the Firelight
Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent of U.S. Internal Revenue Service regulations.
100% of donations will be applied to grant awards in support of community-based organizations providing direct, effective
services to vulnerable children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Firelight’s administrative and program costs are fully covered through its
endowment. All donations will be acknowledged in writing within two weeks of the date of donation.
Contributions may be made in one of the following ways:
• Donations
Firelight accepts donations made in cash or by check.

• Stock Transfers
Stocks may be transferred to the Firelight Foundation via
accounts at either Goldman Sachs or Northern Trust
Bank.
• Donating through the Firelight Foundation Advised
Fund at the TIDES Foundation
To facilitate donations from private foundations or donor
advised funds, Firelight has set up a donor advised fund
at the TIDES Foundation, San Francisco. Firelight works
with TIDES to see that grants are awarded to eligible
Firelight grantee-partners. A small administrative fee is
associated with this fund.
• ‘Gift of Hope’ Donations
In exchange for a financial donation, Firelight will send a
‘Gift of Hope’ card on behalf of a donor to honor
someone special, to commemorate a holiday, or to mark
an anniversary.
• Gifts In-Kind
In-kind donations are gratefully accepted. They will be
acknowledged and valued for tax deduction purposes at
their fair market value.
• Volunteering at Firelight
Firelight is fortunate to have the support of numerous
local volunteers including a few ‘virtual volunteers’, who
work via email and the internet. If you are interested in
volunteering, please contact our office.
To discuss any aspect of making a contribution, please
contact:
Jennifer Astone, Director, at jastone@firelightfoundation.org
or Caitlin Brune, Fundraising Team Leader, at
caitlin@firelightfoundation.org, or phone us at (831) 429-
8750.
Firelight’s Gift Card (front)
Firelight’s Holiday Gift Card (back)
MAKING A DIFFERENCE