Community based organizations and the life of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) in Tanzania, Dodoma Urban

This study aimed at investigating the contribution of Community Based Centers(CBOs) to the wellbeing of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Dodoma Municipality. The specific objectives of this study were to identify the approaches used to support the vulnerable children, to analyze the achievements and type of support provided by Community centers to vulnerable children and to diagnose the organization management of the centers to learn how they are managed. The case study and cross sectional design were used. A total of 75 respondents were selected, where a simple random sampling method was used to select vulnerable children and parents/guardians while purposive sampling method was used to select officials from these centers. Interview of respondents and observations were used to collect data. It was found out that, contribution of community centers to the improvement of wellbeing of OVC cannot be ignored. The number of OVC supported has been increasing and it is more than 385. However, aids management by such centres has been a challenge. Therefore there is a need for the Government to strengthen follow-ups and a regular visit on those centers and provide guidelines on how to handle such centres.