Our Story

Bantwana’s history is rooted in the truth of this saying. By joining forces and voices, combining ideas and skills, communities attain broad-based progress that is inclusive of the most vulnerable. And few in this world are more vulnerable than children and youth without caring adults in their lives!

Just a few decades ago, the concept of “orphan” was relatively uncommon in Eastern and Southern Africa. In the countries where Bantwana operates—our countries—the extended family of aunts, uncles, grandparents, or cousins would traditionally step in to “parent” young children who had lost their biological parents or were otherwise in need.

But by the early 2000s, the unsparing HIV/AIDS epidemic had left hundreds of thousands of children—from newborns and toddlers to adolescents and teenagers—without any adult relatives. Already confronting poverty and other inequities, community members did what they could to feed, clothe, and educate these youth, with the minimal resources at their disposal.

The seed of an idea

In 2006, inspired by the passionate, committed individuals and community groups on the frontlines of the HIV epidemic in Uganda, Gill Garb founded the Bantwana Initiative within the larger family of World Education, Inc., where she held a senior position. (An international development NGO with a 70-year history, World Education has since merged with its longtime sister organization, JSI, a renowned public health institution.)

As conceived by Gill and African colleagues who shared her vision—many of whom are still connected to Bantwana today—the initiative would reinforce existing grassroots efforts with needed management and technical skills and access funding to support the provision of holistic, comprehensive, community-based care. Bantwana would build on and help build up existing government approaches and community efforts already in place, not replace or duplicate them. The overriding aim was to support vibrant and viable locally led and governed institutions.

Pioneering homegrown approaches to HIV-sensitive comprehensive case management

And, indeed, that is what Bantwana achieved—helping implement groundbreaking OVC-care and HIV-prevention programs that have served millions vulnerable children and families in more than half dozen countries over nearly two decades. From the start, identification of needs, priorities, and service solutions were locally driven, and incorporated Bantwana’s unique and comprehensive HIV- and gender-sensitive case management approaches to providing effective health, education, child protection, and even economic strengthening interventions. From 2006 through 2020, these pioneering approaches garnered the attention and support of large multilateral donors (USAID, PEPFAR, and UN agencies) as well as of small, nimble foundations.

The scope and range of activities expanded organically and responsively—from a focus on OVC need and treatment to whole-family, whole-community, and school-based approaches to norms change, social and clinical referral and services, and economic strengthening for adults and youth. Bantwana country teams enriched each others’ learning as well as technical advances in the sector and in national-level government policy and strategies. Staff from Uganda and Tanzania were able to share tools and experience with those in Eswatini and Zimbabwe. A few years later, Bantwana programs and offices in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia joined the family.

Independent—yet interlinked

Today, having navigated complex funding, policy, and political contexts, three of those seven “country teams”—Eswatini, Uganda, and Zimbabwe—have transformed into independent, sustainable entities—designing and implementing programs, providing technical assistance, and maintaining the Bantwana tradition of local innovation.

As founding members of the Bantwana Regional Network, these organizations are adapting their proven community strengthening approaches to leverage Africa’s youth dividend and engage young people in transformative learning and development. As they led the battle for comprehensive care and child protection, BRN members today are on the frontlines tackling the critical challenges posed by climate change, population displacement, and localized civil conflict.

Network members place their efforts, energy, and trust in the communities where they work to inspire and support individuals and institutions to create lasting change. The three current BRN members will continue to collaborate with ongoing Bantwana-initiated projects that are now being run under the JSI umbrella in Malawi and Mozambique, while leveraging new opportunities in collaboration with JSI country offices in other regions—including West and North Africa.