Families Living with and Affected by HIV/AIDS

Source: Opportunity International

Janet Korutaro
Nsike Village Trust Bank, Uganda

As part of the President’s Emergency Plan through USAID, Opportunity International is enabling women in Uganda to provide for children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Janet Korutaro, a widow from Nsike Village in Uganda, belongs to an Opportunity International Trust Bank. This lending group of 14 women and one man call themselves the "Orphan Caring Group." Each member contributes $1.15 a week, in support of 43 orphans affected by AIDS. The contribution allows these children to eat properly and to go to school. Janet is raising her two young children and a grandchild, as well as three orphans she invited into her home. To care for her family, Janet runs a small grocery store in her house. With her first Opportunity loan of $58, Janet expanded her business; adding sugar, salt, biscuits, oil, and eggs to her store. With her second loan of $115, Janet bought a refrigerator so she could sell juice, sodas, and fruits. A third loan of $171 helped Janet expand her business even more. Janet’s daily net profit is just $1.15, but this goes far in Uganda. She plans to educate all of the children in her care, as well as buy land and build a modest home. From barely surviving and not daring to dream, Janet is now expecting her dreams to come true. Opportunity International has transformed her life and is giving her children and several orphans a future. This is just one of thousands of stories of families impacted by USAID’s partners. Opportunity International cares for orphans and other vulnerable children in Uganda, Mozambique and Zambia.

For more on Opportunity’s work in Africa visit their website.