Intro to AIDS orphans by Amanda S.

In order to create a solution for our problem, we need to figure out what exactly their plight is.

HIV AIDS affects children in many countries world-wide. It affects the children in many ways- especially if the parents die from the disease. But, two thirds of everyone living with HIV live in the area south of the Sahara Dessert in Africa. Some countries heavily affected are Botswana, Swaziland, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho.

Who are the AIDS orphans (people who were orphaned because of AIDS)?
Of all the AIDS orphans in Africa, 15% of the children are 0-4 years old, 35% are from 5 to nine years old, and half are ages 10-14. These percentages are quite consistent throughout countries. Since people with more money can afford proper care for those with HIV/AIDS, it is more likely for the AIDS orphans to be poor. This also makes sense because 2/3 of all people living with HIV live in Africa, in the developing countries where there isn’t always proper medical treatment for it. Before the AIDS epidemic, about 2% of all children in developing countries were orphans. Now, the UN has estimated that 10% of all children in countries badly affected are orphans. That’s one out of ten children.

What is the cause of the problem the children face?
The cause of these children’s plight is that their parents had AIDS, or HIV- related sicknesses. Once the parents die, the children have no one to take care of them. A lot of the times they live with relatives, but sometimes they have to stay on their own with their siblings- the eldest supporting them.

What does AIDS do?
AIDS destroys part of your immune system, so you can easily get many serious infections people without the condition wouldn’t get.

How does one get AIDS, or HIV?
Through having sex with someone with AIDS/HIV, by drinking the breast milk of someone with it, sharing needles (for tattoos, steroids, drugs, piercings) with someone who has AIDS/HIV, and also, if someone who has it has a baby, the baby could easy get it. People get AIDS because HIV damaged their immune system.
Note: if one child’s parents dies of AIDS, it is likely for the other to have HIV- related illnesses, because the condition can be passed along during sexual intercourse.

Living Alone
A 13 year old AIDS orphans says this: “My sister is six years old. There are no grown-ups living with us. I need a bathroom tap and clothes and shoes. But especially, somebody to tuck me and my sister in at night-time.”
For generations, people in Kenya have had systems of taking care of the children whose parents die. But, because of the overwhelming number of people dying from HIV- related illnesses, the demand for support is too much in many areas. This leaves an astounding number of orphans to live in child-headed households.
Even if they are taken in by relatives, they tend to be unfairly treated. They are normally considered second-class members of the family, even forced to work. They getting unfair portions of food, and sometimes don’t get to go to school with other children in the family.
The AIDS orphans’ only chance to escape poverty is to get educated and get a job.