Were you aware that at the end of 2007, 15 MILLION CHILDREN worldwide had lost one or both parents to AIDS?? This year (2010) the number of AIDS orphans worldwide is expected to climb to 25 million children. That’s equivalent to the number of people living in New York, Paris, and Bangkok combined!!
In sub-Saharan Africa alone, over 15.7 million children have been orphaned by the pandemic. It’s no wonder the UN describes Africa as a “Continent of Orphans.” With experts believing that millions more orphans remain unaccounted for in India, China and Russia.
A Quick Look at HIV/AIDS Around the World
The Impact:
• In addition to the trauma of losing a parent, orphans are often subject to discrimination and are less likely to receive health care, education and other needed services.
• In HIV affected households lacking community support, food consumption can drop by 40% putting children at risk to hunger, malnutrition and stunting.
• Impoverished and often without support to educate and protect them, orphans and vulnerable children face increased risk of HIV infection.
• Orphans are often easy prey to many forms of exploitation: forced labor, prostitution and child soldiering.
How sad is it that losing parents has become almost a normal part of life in Sub-Saharan Africa!?!? For those of you reading who have kids, can you imagine leaving them behind and them having to fend for themselves? I can’t picture my nephew, Harrison, running a house and taking care of his brothers and sister…. Yet it happens every. single. day. in Africa. I wish more people would pay attention to this. I wish more people were aware of what’s going on. I know it’s not fun to read about… but it’s not fun to live through either.
On a bit of a side note… one thing that really frustrates me is that HIV is COMPLETELY TREATABLE! On my other blog I posted this a few days ago.
Are you familiar with the Lazarus Effect? It’s incredible. HIV is NO LONGER a DEATH SENTENCE! But for most parts of Africa… it still is. That kills me. “Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die” (have I told you how much i love Bono??)
Sorry, I’m rambling (I did warn you about that in my first post though!)
The numbers are staggering, and so is the need for action. Children are the future (sing with me!), and it scares me to think about what this world will be like with so many millions of children growing up without the love and security of a family... and way too often growing up without adequate food, education and medical care. Where does that leave all of us? Have any of you read the book, The Hole in Our Gospel, by Rich Stearns?? Here’s what he had to say…
"I believe that this could very well be looked back on as the sin of our generation. I look at my parents and ask, where were they during the civil rights movement? I look at my grandparents and ask, what were they doing when the holocaust in Europe was occurring with regard to the Jews, and why didn't they speak up? And when we think of our great, great, great-grandparents, we think how could they have sat by and allowed slavery to exist? And I believe that our children and their children, 40 or 50 years from now, are going to ask me, what did you do while 40 million children became orphans in Africa?"
I know we can’t do everything….. and I know the problem seems TOO BIG that many don’t even know where to begin. I know, because I feel like that a lot. But let’s begin by educating ourselves. That’s always a great place to start, right? With tomorrow being World AIDS Orphan Day, why not start then!? Or get a head start, and being right now.
One of the biggest roadblocks in getting people to care and take action is the STIGMA surrounding HIV/AIDS. Sadly a lot of people (I know some personally) think that this disease strikes those who “deserve it”. What did a baby in Africa ever do to deserve such a thing? This is an equal opportunity disease. It affects men, women & children, heterosexuals & homosexuals, all races & all social classes. It’s a HUMAN problem.
FEAR is another roadblock. HIV cannot be transmitted in a casual way. Those who are HIV+ are NOT a threat to those around them.
I’m sure there are a lot out there, but I’ve read two amazing books on the HIV/AIDS crisis and orphan crisis. 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa and There Is No Me Without You. Both are amazing books. I don’t recommend reading 28 Stories when you’re on the train on your way to/from work though. You WILL Cry. I know this, because I’ve been a slobbering mess a time or two. Just ask my train buddies. For those who don’t enjoy reading you can get There Is No Me… on an audiobook (iTunes). I recently bought it for Boz in hopes of him listening to it. Yep, it is THAT good of a book. And if you want, you can always borrow my book(s). Just let me know! I love sharing books!! Just ask my father-in-law. ;-)
Another way to help is you can consider (or just do it!) sponsoring an AIDS orphan. Boz and I had been sponsoring a little boy but he was recently moved to another orphanage, and is no longer available for sponsorship (boo!). But we plan on sponsoring another soon.
Here are two great places where you can sponsor kids:
World Vision
Compassion International
Anyway, those are just a few ideas to get ya started.
"Imagine if a third of the kids at your local primary school were AIDS orphans. That's a reality in Africa where the parents of 13 million children have been killed by AIDS." - BONO
Now go back and read that last quote again. Think about it.
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