Overwhelmed

Started my volunteer placement at TAFCOM today (still on it, actually, I just have a few minutes to write a quick post). Their biggest challenge seems to be funding - the organization was founded and is run by a married couple named Jonas and Nie. They truly seem to do their work from the heart (they certainly don't get paid for it!). They cannot afford to pay any staff - Jonas has his own business as a computer repair technician which supports them so that Nie can focus full-time on TAFCOM. Primarily they go out and visit families who have been affected by HIV/AIDS. There is such a stigma against people who are HIV positive that they are unable to work or really live in a community if anyone knows they have HIV. TAFCOM's goal is to provide these people with emotional support, and sometimes more if they can manage to do so. Tomorrow we begin our home visits to some of the TAFCOM clients. I'm sure it will be eye-opening and sad.

I want to try to find some grant sources for TAFCOM - they have several cool projects they are working on, but have had to stop due to lack of funds. The biggest one is building an orphanage (there are so many orphaned children here). They got some funding in January to begin the building, but only received enough to have a foundation built on their land. They don't have any more money with which to complete the project. They also want to support, in any way, the clients they serve who have HIV/AIDS. For example, a couple of years ago they had a successful fundraiser that allowed them to buy food which they distributed to their clients.

I'm feeling overwhelmed - the problem is so huge and seems impossible to fix. I know that I can't change that, but hope that I will be able to contribute in some small way. I just don't know what that is, yet. It's so incredibly sad to see all of this.