PLAS | Positive Living throuth AIDS orphan Support

For the last mile

where support is hard to reach, we deliver support that gives children hope for the future and makes them smile. We stand by each and every one of the people in Africa so that they can change their communities and societies by themselves.

Who we are

Together we create,
the future for Children in Africa

The mission of PLAS
is to create a society where orphans and children from families under the poverty line left behind in Africa can live positive life.
PLAS stands by each and every one of the people in Africa so that they can change their communities and societies by themselves.

We want to deliver support to the last mile, where supports are hard to come by, so that children who live there can have hope for the future and smile.And we also believe that by connecting people involved in this activity, they would love the world and themselves more and live positively.

Our Mission and Vision

Vision -The society PLAS aims to create-
We aim to create a society in which children left behind can live positively.

PLAS’s mission
We work with local communities to solve problems so that orphans and children from families living under the poverty line left behind in Africa can live positively.
To make this change happen, we work with local partner organisations to reach out not only to children orphaned by AIDS, but also to the environment surrounding AIDS orphans, including adults, communities, and the government.

Who are 'AIDS Orphans'?

We define ‘AIDS orphans’ as children aged under 18 who have lost either one or both of their parents due to AIDS.

An increasing number of actors are providing support for the medical care of AIDS/HIV patients; however, AIDS orphans are barely included as their target.

Today, there are approximately 12.2 million AIDS orphans in the world, of which 83% are in Africa and 1 million are in Kenya and Uganda (UNAIDS).

AIDS orphans suffer in a complex cycle of problems; not only do they have high health risks, but are also prone to social stigma and financial depression.
There is little hope for the AIDS Orphans to have the self- determination to create their own future.

So, what are the problems that AIDS orphans are facing?

The problems that AIDS orphans face is like a cycle of problems that interlink, creating a condition that is very hard to escape.
　

For instance, when a parent is infected with HIV, the child also holds high risks of getting infected.

Then, when the parent passes away due to AIDS, the orphan, even if he or she is not infected, is likely to be neglected and discriminated from the community that lack proper knowledge on AIDS. They also have to give up on education often times, either because of the discrimination or the financial constraints to substitute as the breadwinner of the family.

Such problems can have serious effects on their mental health, and can also prevent them from getting a stable job.

Therefore, AIDS orphans have little hope to escape from poverty, and the problems in their lives will be carried on to the following generation, constraining their lives in the same way.

What we do

We are working in Kenya and Uganda in Africa, with an emphasis on 'creating' rather than 'giving' support.

Our current projects include...

Livelihood Improvement
Approach

Here, we provide single mothers with skills necessary to gain a sustainable financial suitability, and help with the initial investment to a new business they may start. We aim to make each individuals become more independent so that they have the life and financial skills to sustain their own lives.

So far, we supported restaurant style businesses, poultry farming, and agricultural farms.

Life Planning Programme

This is a programme where local counsellors provide psychological support to children and parents.

Children are read books or provided with other active learning programmes, which are to lead the children think more about their future.Parents are provided with educational programmes on the development and growth of children, which is to help them understand the importance of child education.

Life Planning Programme

This is a programme where local counsellors provide psychological support to children and parents.

Children are read books or provided with other active learning programmes, which are to lead the children think more about their future.Parents are provided with educational programmes on the development and growth of children, which is to help them understand the importance of child education.

Through these two programmes, we believe that we can make the following changes necessary to achieve our goal of creating a society, where all AIDS orphans can increase self-determination and self-realisation.

The ability to attend school
The ability to plan their future
To feel value in themselves
To have a healthy life

Our activities

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Our achievements

We have supported...

3,147
children

685
single mother families

26,925
individuals through education

Five things PLAS values in the field

PLAS develops its activities in the field based on the policy of 'building' support rather than 'giving' support.

We work with partner organisations to maximise the results of our projects.
We encourage the independence and growth of our partner organisations.
We build on each other's strengths and encourage problem-solving by local people.
We aim for a partnership of equals and mutual respect for each other's wishes.
We strive for our own development for better project implementation with our partners.

The history of our work

Positive Living
through
AIDS orphan Support

We are a NGO for AIDS Orphans, founded by 7 Japanese university students in 2005.

When our team visited Africa, they felt a strong duty to change the living conditions of the AIDS orphans that they had met, who were poor and discriminated.
They therefore established PLAS, to help create a society where HIV positive people can feel positive about their future, and the supporters can also feel positively about their own lives through their work.

This is why our organisation is called PLAS; or ‘Positive Living through AIDS Orphan Support’.With such belief in our mind, we have been working for the AIDS orphans in Uganda and Kenya, through various challenges and developments along our journey.

2005-2009: School programmes for AIDS orphans

At the time when PLAS was founded, many AIDS orphans were prohibited from attending some public schools, due to severe social stigma. Thus, it was our first project to establish schools for such AIDS orphans, and also provide support in the operation of the schools. We were able to support 3 schools and build 11 buildings. Moreover, we have achieved to create a school that is used as a model school for AIDS orphans today.

2010-2014: Educational programmes on the prevention of maternal-fetal transmission of AIDS

By this time, multiple educational programmes on AIDS were running in Uganda and Kenya. However, no programmes provided information on the prevention of maternal-fetal transmission. We saw that, by running such programmes, we could prevent the cycle of transmission. As a result, we educated around 20,000 individuals, and the number of a proper delivery of infants at medical faculties increased by 2.5 times, whilst improvements could not be measured anywhere else in which PLAS did not provide the programme.

2015- today: Livlihood Improvement Approach and Life Planning Support Programme

Today, there are more international organisation providing programmes on the education of maternal-fetal infection prevention. Thus, we have shifted our focus on issues that are yet to be covered by such actors, which is supporting the financial and psychological struggles of AIDS orphans and the single parents. Moreover, since 2018, we are introducing programmes to support young HIV patients, to help them gain skills to sustain their living, and since 2020, we are expanding our support to all vulnerable children and single parents, not just AIDS orphans.

How we ensure sustainable projects

Although we work for the AIDS orphans in Kenya and Uganda, our office is in Japan and only Japan.

This is a choice we have made according to our policy: support through 'creation' not 'provision'.

We adopt a bottom-up appproach, finding and creating solutions together with local NGOs which know their people the best, rather than 'providing' a one-size-fits-all solution.

Moreover, this allows us to have equal leadership roles where the Japanese staff have no overarching power, which we believe is a way to maximise each party’s strengths.

‘For the positive living of everyone, regardless of the circumstances that they were born in’.

With this in our mind, we work everyday, from the far away land of Japan, to create a society where AIDS orphans can increase self-determination and self-realisation. No matter where we are, and no matter how little it may be, we can make a difference to the future of AIDS orphans.

We would love for you to join, in making this difference.

Donate

Donation Through a Bank Transfer
We are happy to accept donation from bank transfer, and the details are as follows.

Beneficiary Bank : MUFG Bank, LTD.
Branch : Meguro Branch
SWIFT code/BIC code : BOTKJPJT/BOTKJPJTXXX
Beneficiary Account Number : 680-0271058
Beneficiary Name ：AIDS ORPHAN SUPPORT NGO PLAS

We would appreciate it if you could inform us of the name of the payer and your contact information to info@plas-aids.org after the transfer is made.