It infects the innocent, orphans children, and leaves a heavy burden of stigma and discrimination resting on the shoulders of those who have lost everything.
The tragedy of HIV/AIDS in places like Haiti and Kenya knocks vulnerable children deeper into poverty, where the disease flourishes. We’re here to pick them up together--our staff, volunteers and you.
You can help change the futures of hurting kids by becoming a godparent. $100 provides care for one orphan or vulnerable child for a year.
Our holistic approach helps them three ways:
Crispin is just three years old, wearing a pink shirt and denim dress, reclining near her grandmother in the shade of a large tree in rural Kenya.
Near Crispin are about a dozen other orphans from her village, in a region where the rate of AIDS is 11 times higher than in the United States.
The virus robbed these children and babies of their parents.
And few will admit it
“Normally here, they will not tell you it is HIV that killed them,” said Winnie Gachuri, a World Concern worker in Kenya.
A World Concern volunteer has called this gathering under the leaves, in part to try and unify the community and help eliminate the stigma of AIDS.
Too often, the stigma prompts people with the virus to refuse to be tested, and leaves those who know they have AIDS to become ostracized.
“The stigma, it’s widespread,” said Megan Svec, World Concern AIDS specialist. Often, ignorance about the disease’s spread drives the stigma. But, as Megan notes, “there are people who do know something about it (AIDS’ spread).”
In hundreds of small gatherings, World Concern employees and volunteers work to break the stigma by educating people about how AIDS is spread and the reality facing orphans.
Godparents—donors who support impoverished orphans and vulnerable children—partner with us to do this:
World Concern is a Christian humanitarian organization that focuses on sustainable development for the poor in Africa, Asia and the Americas. We work in some of the world’s most remote places, offering life, opportunity and hope to 6 million people a year in the name of Christ.
Learn more about us at www.worldconcern.org.
