Our Mission + History

We empower Eswatini’s vulnerable youth through:

Comprehensive Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Care:

• Life support grants
• Economic empowerment
• Vocational Skills Training Empowerment Program (STEP)
• Social protection including birth registration, psychosocial support, education support, and parenting skills
• Gender Based Violence (GBV) education and prevention

Our Values:

1. Integrity. We act honestly, openly, and fairly.
2. Dignity. We strive for work-balance, are non-discriminatory, act in an inclusive manner, and respect the people we work with.
3. Passionate. We are passionate about serving the needs of the people in our communities.
4. Effectiveness. We consistently serve those in need in the most efficient and reliable manner with the goal of sustainability and independence.

While serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) in early 2005, Steve Kallaugher was asked by the country’s National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA) to create a means for people both within Eswatini and overseas to help the country’s burgeoning population of AIDS orphans.

The result is Young Heroes, which launched on February 3, 2006 as a program of NERCHA. Young Heroes Foundation, our 501(c)(3) American affiliate, launched at the same time.

Our original program links sponsors who provide monthly life-support grants with orphan families in need. These stipends give them funds for food, clothing, school fees and other necessities, so they can stay together as a family on their homesteads, where they feel most safe and secure.

In 2009, we launched our Healthcare Program, followed by the Skills Training Empowerment Program (STEP) in 2013.

In 2014, Young Heroes became an independently registered NGO in Eswatini. In the autumn of 2015, Young Heroes received a three-year grant from USAID and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) via PACT to undertake the Umliba Loya Embili project, which was succeeded by Insika Yakusasa. Building on the successes of these projects, Young Heroes transitioned to a USAID Local Partner in Eswatini to implement Phila Unotse (“Be healthy, economically stable and informed”) in late 2020.

In 2017, a grant from the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and CANGO enabled Young Heroes to implement READY+ in Eswatini. READY+ 2 will reach more age groups and will directly impact more than 70,000 people over a five-year period started in 2021.

In 2018, through the support of the Thomas Engel Foundation and the Moewenweg Foundation, Young Heroes introduced Litsemba project in the Shiselweni region.

With the intention to halt the spread of HIV and reverse its impact in Eswatini, in 2018 through funding from CANGO, Young Heroes started to implement The Halt Project in seven constituencies and five tertiary institutions.   

Through the support of Together Women Rise, Young Heroes introduced a WORTH project in 2020 in Lubombo and Manzini regions targeting caregivers of OVC.