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Family Impact
Building Families - Transforming Communities
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Vision

Families of Africa delighting in Christ and passionate for the supremacy of God

Mission

Family Impact exists to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in family life and relationships

Values

-God centredness

-Integrity

-Excellence

-Passion

-Ubuntu

Note: In African Culture, ubuntu is the capacity to express compassion, justice, reciprocity, dignity, cooperation, harmony and humanity in the interest of building, maintaining and strengthening communities.

Slogan

Building families, transforming communities

BACKGROUND

Family Impact South Africa was birthed when Tumani Tobias Santungwana was released from Family Impact Zimbabwe to start and pioneer, develop Family Impact South Africa as a sister organization with its own management board.             

The traditional family has been strength of communities and the centre of life in Africa. Today, family is in transition. Family breakdown, divorce, single parenthood has become common. HIV and AIDS has added one more pressure to families that already face many threats.

However, families provide the greatest potential for coping with the enormous task of caring for people affected by HIV and AIDS including the large number of orphans.

HIV and AIDS prevention strategies must also take into account the significant link between high risk behavior among young people and their family background.

Families remain the basic unit of society and long term response to HIV and AIDS must strengthen family life in our nations and empower individual families.

PROJECT SUMMARY:

Family Impact is a Faith-based organization which supports a large variety of institutions, churches and business in their response to HIV and AIDS by celebrating the beauty of God’s plan for family life and relationships and promoting its transforming power. Family Impact aims to re search, pioneer, and implement new initiatives in HIV and family work. Family Impact equips all family members with lifeskills for positive moral living through decisions made out of sound personal conviction.Lifeskills are used to empower people against vulnerability to risky lifestyle.

PROMBLEM STATEMENT

HIV and AIDS is the greatest challenge to economic and social well being of Southern Africa. It is a sad story owned by increasing numbers of families. The traditional family which has been the strength of communities and the centre of life in Africa is in transition. Family breakdown, divorce and single parenthood have become common. HIV and AIDS have added a lot more pressure to families that already face many threats. There is hardly a family in Southern Africa today, rural or urban, that has not been affected by AIDS.

PROPOSED SOLUTION

HIV and AIDS is a huge and complex problem demanding a comprehensive, multisectoral response. No single organization or programme can provide a complete solution.However, in co-operation with other agencies; Family Impact is positioned to enable the Christian church to significantly reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS by building family life. The family unit which is a place where men, women and children interact and mutually affect each other, offers a unique opportunity for behavior change interventions that can radically alter the course of the epidemic. The project goals and objectives reflect this view.

There is too much talk today about the problems and breakdown of families. However the strength of family life in Africa today must not be ignored. Only families are able to cope with the enormous task of caring for people affected by HIV and AIDS including the growing number of orphans. There is a significant link between high risk behavior among young people and their family background so healthy marriages and parenting skills are highly important. Every individual’s basic needs and social values such as the need to be loved, sense of acceptance, sense of self worth,security,human relationships, social welfare,culture,tradition and history which determine attitudes and practices are taught,matured,upheld,cherished and passed on in the family institution of the family.

Family Impact believes that long term commitment to strengthening family life in Southern Africa will have a dramatic effect on reducing the prevalence rate and caring for those affected by HIV and AIDS. As South Africa goes through a period of growth and change, family must be a central theme in order to see the nation prosper and experience peace. Building families and thereby transforming communities.

OBJECTIVES

-God’s pattern for marriage, family life and relationships is accepted as a norm in Africa.

-The spread of HIV and AIDS is significantly reduced.

-Individuals, churches, communities are impacted for God resulting in fundamental behavior change.

-God-centred leadership is developed to enhance family life

ACTIVITIES

  1. To form strategic partnerships by networking throughout South Africa with individuals, churches and other organizations active in family work and HIV and AIDS prevention.

·         -To complement and support one another.

·         -To share resources and avoid duplication

·         -To respond to gaps in existing programs

·         -To motivate others to get involved

·         -To raise public awareness through united advocacy

·         -To promote united prayer

  1. To pioneer Family Impact activities in South Africa

·         -Workplace outreach through industrial threatre

·         -Family life training centre

·         -Mobile units for community outreach

  1. To provide training, build internal and external capacity

·         -To assist with training, consultation and other events (TOT in factories, churches and communities)

·         -To train and develop volunteers and staff

  1. To develop materials which promote Family Impact vision and mission.

CURRENT and PROPOSED PARTNESHIPS

  • Hatfield Christian Church
  • Gateway International
  • Campus Crusade
  • Pan African Christian Aids Network
  • Prisma
  • CAF
  • KAIROS Projects

Family Impact Programs

Family Impact developed a number of programs that respond to issues in the family and communities. (This serves as a summary only)

The Family Department (Families 4 Life.F4L): Marriage, pre-marital counseling and caregiver courses. Tackling real life issues of culture, media, entrenched world views and the impact of HIV and AIDS in families today. We train trainers within the church to teach a variety of materials.

Freedom Unlimited (FU): Reaching out to the men in factories and business struggling with being head of their home, facing gloomy odds with HIV and AIDS and uncertain about the future of their families. This program is revolutionizing businesses by building a long-term holistic response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic through a series of prevention based trainings, HIV and AIDS workplace policies, family days and marriage weekends. Aiming at the poorest workers on the factory floor.

Schools Development: Training and developing teachers and support staff.

Life skills: Children, teenagers and youth are struggling with to cope with change as they grow up in an uncertain and often hopeless environment. The life skills bring a message of hope in Christ and the freedom to follow God’s plan through camps, seminars, and team building activities in schools and church groups.

FAITH BASED:

Although Family Impact is faith based in the management and running of the organisation, it has taken care that all its programs can be delivered to those of different faiths or no faiths. Its programs have been accepted by many secular organizations and materials used extensively elsewhere in Africa, even in Muslim nations.

We are able to separate activities that are purely evangelistically and those of humanitarian nature in our monitoring and evaluation, finances and reporting system.