AIDS Crisis in Africa

I just finished reading a book called, There is No Me, Without You. It tells the story of a woman, Haregewoin Teferra, living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia who, in the year 2000, begins opening her home to orphans who have no other place to go. Before she knows it, families stricken by the AIDS pandemic are coming to her home daily to leave their children in her care. In her heart she can not say, No. By September of 2005 she is housing about 80 orphans ranging from infants to 14 years of age in two different compounds; about 30 of the children are HIV positive. The end of the book shares encouraging stories of families who have adopted children from her orphanage. I learned so much from reading this book and here are some of the shocking statistics that I read:

- " In 2005, Ethiopia had 1,563,000 AIDS orphans, the second-highest concentration of such children in the world; and 4,414,000 orphans from all causes, the second-highest number in the world."

-"HIV/AIDS in children generally takes one of two paths. 80 percent of children infected in infancy will die before they reach the age of two. The remaining 20 percent may reach their 8th birthday."

-"At least 30 million Africans are expected to die from AIDS in the next twenty years."

-"The cost of fighting the AIDS pandemic in the 1990's with brand-name drugs was estimated at $3 billion a year. The drugs were not expensive, the patents were. The patented drugs cost $15,000 per patient per year although production cost was closer to $200. Though the U.S. government subsidized the cost of Americans, Africans governments were too poor to do the same." (doesn't that make you sick that it costs so much)

So I hope you are thinking, "How can I help?" I have put some links down below to some websites where you can help get involved. Ryan and I sponsor a child from South Africa through Horizon International. I hope you will take some time to get involved.


http://www.horizoninternationalinc.com/


http://www.worldvision.org/


http://www.savethechildren.org/countries/africa/ethiopia.html