Kenya village pairs AIDS orphans with grandparents
by Jason Straziuso
November
30,2012
The Boston
Globe http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/2012/11/30/kenya-village-pairs-aids-orphans-with-grandparents/uO8LOA1IcxudiLaXJLrssJ/story.html
938
children and 97 grandparents live together and take care of each other in
Nyumbani, Kenya. All of the children became orphans when their parents (the
grandparents’ children) passed away from AIDS.
Only
80 children have HIV, and none of them has AIDS because of anti-retroviral
drugs.
Each
grandparent takes care of 12 "grandchildren", one or two of whom is
biologically their own.
“Each grandparent has a plot of land for
farming.” They
rely on aid from many sources. This money and their hard work will help them to
become self-sufficient in the future.
During
class we talked a lot about how people react when others are infected with
disease. Even though the grandparents and children are not all family, they
care for each other as if they are.
The
article says that 69% of the global HIV population is in sub-Saharan Africa. That
is an estimated 23.5 million people! It is hard to imagine what their lives are
like in Nyumbani and the rest of Africa.
So
many of these people have lost multiple relatives to AIDS, and I think it is
amazing that everyone is coming together to support one and other.
(AP Photo/Ben Curtis November 21, 2012)
This post was really well written and i thought very interesting. While the AIDS epidemic in Africa is terrible it makes you feel a little bit better knowing how much everyone cares for each other and treats everyone like family. I feel like it would be hard for people to keep track of so many kids or find kids who have lost their parents to AIDS. is there any system they have implemented to help this process? Overall i though i found this very interesting. It showed how caring people how and how much each person is willing to help the next
ReplyDeleteThis post is heartbreaking in that everyone in Nyumbani is affected by AIDS. A person could be personally affected by AIDS, have a parent or loved one affected, or take in children who have been affected. But at the same time, it is also heartwarming. These "grandparents" seem to do all they can to help these children, devoting their whole lives to them because they know it is important. I knew AIDS affected many many people and is horrible, but this is even more eyeopening to the seriousness of it.
ReplyDeleteThis article really opened my eyes as to the number of people that are affected by such an awful disease. Living so far away from Nyumbani and Africa, we sometimes don't realize how devastating the disease can be. It is, however, good to know that there are good people out there helping the children of Africa.
ReplyDeleteWhile aids is not as prevalent in America, it would be interesting to see if there are any similar support systems in the U.S. for orphans of AIDS inflicted parents.
This article made me realize that the little "everyday" problems that I experience in my life aren't as serious as I would make them out to be.
It is very sad to think that so many children are effected by AIDS and are forced to become orphans when their parents pass away. As sad as it is, it is also good to know that there is support from everyone, and no one is left behind. It is amazing that over a thousand people in Africa alone, came together to support and take care of one another.
ReplyDeleteI can not even imagine the struggles that these grandparents must go through every day to raise their "grandchildren". No one can replace a parent, especially not two parents at once and to 12 children. It is so sad that these children lose both their parents to such a horrible disease. I can not even imagine the anger the must have and how sad they must be. This disease affects so many people. Not only the people who are living with the disease or those who have lost their lives to it but also the people around them who love them and need them.
ReplyDeleteI think this article is very sad but really shows how much countries, especially Africa, have been affected by AIDS. It is very nice to see how caring people are when dealing with the affects of the AIDS epidemic. Some of these grandparents probably don't have a lot of money, and relying on farming and other resources might not always do the job, but they are still willing to take up to 12 children into their care, and treat them as if they are their own grandchildren, which they often times aren't. Out of the 97 children, 80 have AIDS. Even though it is not all of them, that is still such a large number of children affected and there are still so many more.
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be extremely sad. The numbers and statistics alone are simply heartbreaking; an estimated 23.5 million people in Africa are HIV positive. I think what made this article so powerful was that instead of just using numbers Mallory incorporated words like grandfather or mother. I think when we hear the number 23.5 million we can’t wrap our heads around it but when you realize that everyone of those people are grandfathers, mothers, brothers etc. it all becomes much more personal and real. This article made me so appreciative of everything I have. I can’t even imagine living in these conditions. It makes you wonder, is there anything we can do here in the U.S to help these poor people?
ReplyDeleteThe numbers in this article are really eye opening! I can't even imagine seeing people from around here all having one common illness. Even if they do around here not a lot of people know about it or even take it into consideration. We think we are invinsible and half of us would never know what to do if we were faced with challenges the people of Africa are faced with everyday. HIV is a huge problem every where, but those numbers are unreal.
ReplyDelete