Parentless children with nothing to lose

There are around 1,000,000 people living in Swaziland. 500,000 are adults. Up to 200,000 of those adults are infected. Most of those infected are caring for children. 20,000 of those infected need ARVs immediately, or they will soon die of AIDS. The remaining 180,000 adults have an average of around 10 years before they will meet the same fate.

Today, there are 70,000 orphans in Swaziland. In 2010, there will be around 120,000.
120,000 children without adult caregivers.

This is not complicated math, and the dangers of allowing 120,000 parentless, unschooled, unemployed, undernourished, helpless, hopeless children wander a small country are not difficult to calculate either.

In the words of Derek Von Wissel, the Director of Swaziland's National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA), “They will have nothing to lose. They will be rampant. It is a nightmare.”

This is a nightmare we will most certainly want to wake up from. Should we not wake up sooner than 2010?

To do your part, see the following link, or email me for other ideas as to how you might contribute.

www.youngheroes.org.sz/index_home.asp