In 2001 VFA was instrumental in launching the Tapuwa Upenyu Orphan Program (TUOP).  ”Tapuwa Upenyu” means “We have been given life.” According to UNICEF,  Zimbabwe has more than 1,200,000 orphans, most of them due to AIDS.  That’s 1 in 4 of the total number of children in Zimbabwe.  There are thousands of households in Zimbabwe headed by children below the age of 18 and many other orphans are living with extended family members.