Birth Certificates 4 Orphaned Eswatini Children

Hi! My name is Karis Schoellmann and I am organizing this go-fund-me inspired by my nephew. Here is the story and the need:

My nephew is working in the rural community of Madzanga in the beautiful Kingdom of Eswatini. He is working within the community with an emphasis on youth engagement and empowerment including supporting youth to make the healthy transition to adulthood and encouraging their participation in community issues and addressing poverty, gender equity and access to quality education and health care .

He told me about a project that the community is working on which is to assist orphaned and vulnerable children who do not have proper national identification, in obtaining birth certificates, so that they may have access to government benefits such as enrollment in primary school and receive free health clinic services from the ministry of health. (Healthcare is universal for citizens and permanent residents in the country).

They are working to register all those who are lacking a birth certificate and needs assistance in covering the application fees and getting the forms to the appropriate office (travel costs).

Without a birth certificate, many of these children cannot attend school or get government assistance such as bursaries, food programs, and free health clinic services.

I started this GoFundme to help cover some of these costs.

The specifics:

Currently, the cost of applying for a birth certificate ranges between the minimum fee of 150 and the maximum of 500 emalangeni, based upon the current age of the applicant. (That's in the range between $10 and $25 U.S Dollars)

Though birth certificates typically are free for those born in a clinic or hospital, and fees are waived for the first 2 months for a newborn, there are many children that fall through the cracks. For many orphaned and vulnerable children as well as for rural families, births will occur at the home or in the community, and not at a clinic or hospital. Many families are unaware that there is a fee after the first two months and many struggle to afford the cost of applying for a birth certificate and to travel to the nearest government ID office (in this area - that is 95 km away.)

I need your help to raise enough funds to cover the birth certificate registration fees and the transport costs of getting the applications to the appropriate office. Currently, there are 61 youth (individuals under the age of 18) and 18 adults who are registered for this project and are in need of assistance applying for a birth certificate. Accounting for foreign transfer and potential currency conversion fees from USD to Swazi Lilangeni SZL we are setting the fundraising goal at $2000.

My nephew will help his community counterparts Clive Swanepool, Setahbile Nxumalo, and Ntando Nxumalo in gathering all the relevant data and working with the parents and extended families of the minors to have them fill out the birth certificate applications and any relevant forms. Once all the funds have been raised, the applications twill be submitted o the Office of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Department in Piggs Peak, Eswatini.

The Goals

Sending you in advance, great appreciation for your consideration and generosity! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me Karis Schoellmann. I am faculty at Tulane’s School of Public Health and am in regular contact with my nephew about this project.