The following information was distributed at the May 16, 2004 TMC presentation by Journalist Ruthann Richter and Photographer Karen Ande. The information was extracted from the UNICEF Report Africa's Orphaned Generations, November 2003.

 

 

 

 

Photo by Karen Ande

• There are some one million children in Kenya who have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
• Twelve percent of orphaned children are being reared by other children.
• There are more than 11 million AIDs orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa and that figure is expected to grow to 20 million by 2010. By that time, 15, to 25 percent of children in these countries will be orphans.
• Official figures put the number of infected adults (ages 15 to 49) at 2.3 million, or about 15%, though these figures are believed to be unrealistically low. In addition, about 220,000 children under 14 in Kenya are infected with AIDS.

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Indeed Karen and Ruthann, who visited Kenyan orphanages early in 2004, reported that in spite of the very dire circumstances in which the children find themselves, they remain cheerful and hopeful and go about their lives with dignity and poise.

The children value education and study hard to advance themselves through the educational system. Unfortunately many of these children are left behind at secondary school because of lack of funds.

They told the story of one little boy, too sick to actually attend school, who would get up each morning, dress, then go to his front gate only to turn around and return to his bed.

 

Photo by Karen Ande

HOW YOU CAN HELP

You can contribute to community-based grassroots projects for AIDS orphans through the Temple United Methodist Church in San Francisco and/or The Thomas Merton Center of Palo Alto (TMC). Temple United operates a Website where donations can be made online .

The TMC maintains a grants program that directly benefits the work of Fr. Daniel Kiriti at the Mji Wa Neema (A village of Mercy) Orphanage in Navaisha, Kenya.Tax deductible contributions can be made by sending a check made out to TMC to:

TMC

PO Box 60061

Palo Alto, CA.94306

Indicate AIDS Orphans Grant Fund in the memo section of the check.

 

WHAT YOUR MONEY CAN BUY

$6 - enough food to feed a family for a week

$22 - enough to buy a mattress, sheets, pillow and blanket for an orphaned child

$14 - a school uniform that would enable a child to attend primary school

$100 - a goat to help sustain a family and provide income to support a child's secondary education

$200 to $500 - yearly tuition to send a child to secondary education school