Many AIDS Assumptions Are Wrong

Here is an informative excerpt from the article linked above:

"One of the most destructive of the misconceptions that had thus far shaped policy on HIV/AIDS prevention and control was that only orphaned children were affected by the pandemic.

This had fed the "powerful myth" that the majority of children who had lost a parent to AIDS lacked family and social networks and needed to be cared for in an orphanage.

JLICA's research showed 88% of children designated as orphans actually had a surviving parent.

The NGO called on the United Nations to change its definition of an orphan as "a child who has lost one or both parents" because the definition had distorted programme goals by obscuring the fact that most of the children defined as AIDS orphans continued to receive support from their families or extended kin.

"The overwhelming majority of children who have lost a parent to AIDS can and should remain in the care of their families, provided that those families receive appropriate support," JLICA said in its report.

The NGO stated clearly that "poverty does not cause AIDS", although it added that extreme poverty was the backdrop to much of the AIDS pandemic and AIDS did cause and compound poverty.

"Over 60% of children in southern Africa live in poverty. Families who are already poor when HIV strikes may be unable to compensate for further loss of income that occurs as a result of AIDS-related illness or death. Poverty is the single biggest barrier to the scale-up of HIV treatment and prevention.

"Poor people's capacity to access and benefit from services is limited when they lack the resources to purchase food and medicines, pay for transport to service facilities and compensate for income that is sacrificed to healthcare," JLICA said."

South Africa's Parentless Families: A Beggar's Life

Click on the title for an interesting article about orphans of AIDS here in South Africa. It's full of stuff we see every day. Thanks to Ben and Stacie Post for the link (and the encouragement!).

Monkey-licious

I know many of you who follow our blog have heard about us having monkeys in our house on various occasions. Monkeys are a pretty common sight in and around Durban. This boy "treed" one with his dogs, then killed it with a slingshot. He was on his way to cook and eat it. Monkey brains, anyone?

Kids Helping Kids

It has been amazing to see the diversity of people who have been touched by the plight of the orphans and vulnerable children who have been affected by the AIDS epidemic here in South Africa. Young Nikolas and Kate of Ontario, Canada put on an iced tea stand to raise money to help us reach these kids. They took donations for their "free" iced tea, and sent the profits to Key of Hope!

Another young person, eight year old Gabe of Bellingham, Washington, donated a percentage of his entire summer's earnings after reading about the feeding program on our Facebook page. Because of his kindness, we will be adding another child to the program through the end of the year!

Pretty big stuff for these little people, don't you think? Just goes to show that everyone can do something.

Khayaliso

Today I wanted to do a home visit with a boy on one of our soccer teams - his name is Khayaliso. The area where he lives is out in "the bush", so I picked him up after school, along with a few other children whose home situations I wanted to check in with.

As we drove through the rolling hills of sugar cane fields, I could tell he was a little uncomfortable giving me directions to his house. When we arrived at the place he showed us, he seemed even more embarrassed that we wanted to meet his mother. As we waited at the front door, I commented to one of our volunteers who was with me how relatively nice his cinder block home was, compared with those of the other kids in our program.

Khayaliso returned and introduced us to his mother - or at least that's what we thought. After some confusion, it became clear that the woman was not his mother, but an aunt. As Khayaliso stared at the floor, she explained to us that his house was actually down the road a ways.

Somewhat puzzled, we made our way to where he actually lived, and when I saw his "house", I realized why he had been ashamed to take us there - especially with friends from school waiting in the back of the truck.

The makeshift one room shack seemed ready to fall in on us as we sat with Khayaliso and his grandmother, who cares for him. Dirt floor, a single bed, a cupboard, and some pots and clothes scattered around the edges. Everything was covered in a greasy, sooty grime from the cooking fires.

As we talked comfortably and respectfully to his grandmother, Khayaliso relaxed. We gave them some food, and prayed with them before we left.

Khayaliso's name means "beautiful home" in Zulu. I thought that was so sad and paradoxical at first; then I remembered that this is not Khayaliso's home. Because of Key of Hope and your help, Khayaliso does have a "beautiful home," waiting for him in heaven.

Khayaliso. His name fits him perfectly.