Destrehan resident Karis Schoellmann, 62, a Tulane clinical assistant professor at the School of Public Health, recently launched a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to support a group of mostly orphaned children her nephew encountered while working abroad in another continent. Her nephew, Rafael Schoellmann, is a mid-twenties Peace Corps volunteer currently serving in the small southern African country of Eswatini.
“[Rafael] is single and young, and full of energy and hope for the future,” Schoellmann said fondly of her nephew, whom she communicates with regularly. “He is a Peace Corps volunteer and cannot do fundraising, so I decided that I would try to help out.”
Schoellmann’s nephew is stationed in Eswatini, previously named Swaziland, a landlocked kingdom in South Africa and one of the smallest countries in Africa. Composed of mostly ethnic Swazis, the country is classified as a developing country and is considered a lower-middle income economy. Eswatini currently faces several major health crises, most notably HIV and tuberculosis. Around 28 percent of its population in 2018 were HIV-positive.
Schoellmann’s nephew works in the Youth Development sector in Eswatini named Y-DEEP, with an emphasis on youth engagement and empowerment, traveling to schools and conducting workshops with local youth. The country of Eswatini overall is quite young – children aged 14 and under are estimated to make up around 35 percent of its population.
During his work in Eswatini, Schoellmann’s nephew uncovered a group of about 61 Eswatini orphaned children and 18 adults living in the rural community of Madzanga, who through various life circumstances, were never issued birth certificates. Some were simply born outside of a hospital which led to not having a birth certificate, and thus no formal national identification. This has led these individuals with limited means unable to attend school, see a doctor or receive other basic services where identification is required.
“Orphans without a [Eswatini] birth certificate cannot have access to education, health care, and things that the [Eswatini] government provides,” Schoellmann explained of how the Eswatini government works.
After conducting their own research, the pair uncovered the cost to remedy the birth certificate situation with the Eswatini government’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Departments for each of the 61 children and 18 adults was variable depending on age, with the average cost between $10 and $25 per youth.
“So that’s why we decided to try to raise funds to get these children birth certificates so that they can get access to those services, and get on a better pathway to improving their lives and their futures,” Schoellmann said.
Schoellmann started a GoFundMe account online in May with the goal of raising $2,000 in funds for their project. As of July 12, her project had raised around $1390 in total. If they reach their $2,000 fundraising goal, Schoellmann’s nephew has arranged for a local Eswatini teacher to assist in the process of applying for birth certificates. A local representative would then travel to the government offices and process the birth certificate paperwork for each of the 79 orphaned children and adults all at one time.
“They don’t have public transportation, and people don’t have cars,” Schoellmann said of the rural area’s plight. “It might be 60 miles away, but that’s a huge amount of travel distance back and forth. You want to go there once and get it done.”
Schoellmann said the funds will go to community partners who will assist with the birth certificate paperwork, and that her nephew Rafael would not handle the funds himself. The project is important for those people, Schoellmann said, as without them they will no access to education or other services needed to help further their lives.
“This can have a meaningful impact on their lives, just from the basic services,” Schoellmann said. “Children who don’t have education…can’t go to school, can’t get health care – having those two things will make a huge difference.”
For readers interested in learning more about Schoellmann’s Eswatini fundraising project, visit her GoFundMe page online at gofundme.com, titled “Birth Certificates 4 Orphaned Eswatini Children.”
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