Support Children Orphaned by Aids in South Africa

Just over a week ago world leaders and the heads of major foundations met in Durban for the 21st International AIDS Conference. The aim - to discuss how to end the AIDS epidemic.

403 miles away in Ikageng, 8 year-old Sielo is living the reality of the horrors of AIDS. Her mother died a few weeks ago leaving Sielo and her little brother Mbele completely alone in the world - their father died last May. They’ve been living in the Ikageng children’s home supported by Starfish and headed by Ms Olerato, for just over a week. Sielo and Mbele’s is a heartbreaking story: vulnerable young children in need of a home, but sadly it’s not unique. UNICEF estimates that nearly half of the 3.7 million orphans in South Africa lost one or both of their parents to HIV.

There is nothing more traumatic for a child than to see their parents die. Once orphaned, these children are then far more likely to be abused or exploited. Sielo knew this when she and her brother, who is only 6 years old, walked the near 11 miles to the children’s home from their village. Looking at them now, sat so closely together in complete unmoving silence on the tiniest patch of grass in the playground, I have to fight every instinct not to run to them and pull them into a hug. They should be running around and playing, like children should, not mourning the loss of another parent in the courtyard of orphanage. Ms Olerato, the sweetest woman you could ever hope to meet, tells me that Mbele cries less and less everyday, and the counselling the two children receive at Ikageng is truly helping. As well as psychological support, Ikageng provides school books and uniforms to get children into school, and has early education and after-school programs open to children in the area as well. They are big proponents of a holistic childcare system that encourages education as an HIV/AIDS prevention tool - Ikageng boasts an impressive number of children who graduate high school and leave for university. This belief isn’t unfounded, countless of studies from UNAIDS have shown that people with higher education are far less likely to contract HIV.

Charlize Theron said in her very bold speech at the Durban Conference, that we - yes even you! - have the power to end the AIDS epidemic, and she was right, we as a global society do have all the tools we need. Your donation to Starfish helps us use epidemic-ending tools like HIV testing, public awareness education, providing ARV (anti-retroviral) medication, and supporting children like Sielo with the help of community resources like Ikageng. Your donation helps places like Ikageng lift Sielo out of an AIDS cycle she has unwittingly been forced into, where left vulnerable unloved and uneducated she faces a 31% chance of contracting HIV before her 25th birthday, and a 56% chance of being one of the 470,000 deaths due to AIDS by the time she is 30 - just like her mother. The gift you made will turn Sielo’s life in a different direction. With the support she receives from Ikageng, growing up emotionally and materially supported, and empowered through education, Sielo’s children will likely never end up sitting where she is - orphaned due to AIDS.

Make another donation to Starfish and help more children just like Sielo and Mbele out of the horrible cycle of AIDS. The gift you give provides more than just medical testing kits and healthy meals for orphaned children, it really does give vulnerable children a shot at a different future, a much brighter one.

Links:

• Watch Charlize Theron give a passionate and emboldening speech.