Aids In Zimbabwe

More than a million innocent children are orphaned or abandoned to live on the roads in Zimbabwe because of the devastating effects of the HIV / AIDS. These children have lost both parents and all elders in the family to the AIDS pandemic and experts fear that 1 5 children will become orphans by the end of 2010 in Zimbabwe. 90% of these children are raised by extended family and not in an orphanage. Efforts to provide basic food, education and health facilities of these children are hindered due to the current political crisis, economic and humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.

These children face the triple threat of cholera, influenza A H1N1 outbreaks of measles and while Zimbabwe is to have the second highest monthly inflation rate in the history of mankind. Each 1 of 7 lives in the age group 15-40 years o living with AIDS in Zimbabwe. More than half of teenagers are in fear of being infected by the HIV virus in a few years time.

Lack of social security, parents or guardians, rampant inflation, deteriorating physical infrastructure, the erosion of livelihoods of food insecurity, rising malnutrition, lack of funds to support education, serious consequences of the pandemic of HIV / AIDS has a dramatic impact on the well-being of children in Zimbabwe. These orphans struggle for basic necessities: food, clothing, education and medicine.

Approximately 120,000 children are living with HIV in Zimbabwe with most of the taxable population of the country. They live on the margins, mainly on food aid. School attendance has declined from 85% in 2007 to less than 20% in 2009. The student turn-out is low because the majority of public schools have indexed tuition to match operating costs.

Therefore, the majority of children in Zimbabwe can not afford to pay these costs have stopped attending classes and access to education, even if schools are open and teachers conduct lessons. These orphaned children (and others infected by the virus) are particularly affected by chronic multiple trauma patient caregivers, orphans, poor quality education and high food insecurity.

Many NGOs have proposed to solve this problem, UNICEF and other aid agencies. Such an organization, Heart4Kids works for the cause since 2003 in Zimbabwe.

Heart4Kids is non-profit 501 3 (C) organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of children worldwide whose lives are shattered by the virus HIV / AIDS. Heart4Kids aims to protect these children by providing food, clothing, medical and educational assistance, and especially hope.

More information on how the organization is to help these children and hope for them can be gathered from their website http://heart4kids.org/