How to Help African AIDS Orphans

The HIV pandemic has left millions of children under the age of 15 orphaned. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, more than 80 percent of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa. Depending on your time and resources, there are several things you can do to help African AIDS orphans.

Instructions

• 1

  Sponsor a child. Many organizations let you contribute a small regular donation that is used to help support an African AIDS orphan. One such organization is SOS Children's Villages (SOS), a United Kingdom-based organization that allows you to sponsor a child in the country of your choosing. Like many sponsorship organizations, SOS provides you with regular updates about your child and allows you to write to them if you wish. SOS does not use any of the sponsorship donations for administration of the United Kingdom offices; all funds are used to support your child in his community. When choosing an organization for sponsorship, be sure to ask where your funds will be going; you want them to go to the child. (See a link to SOS below.)

• 2

  Volunteer to work with AIDS orphans in Africa. Organizations are always looking for volunteers to help with the practical needs of AIDS orphans. This might include teaching orphans English, painting their rooms, mentoring a child, assisting the local doctors or building new orphanages. Some organizations charge a fee that includes room and board as well as transportation costs. One organization that is currently looking for volunteers to help AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe is African Impact. (See the link below.)

• 3

  Go to school. There are a number of undergraduate and graduate programs that can help you make a career of helping AIDS orphans in Africa. For instance, you can become a doctor and work for an organization such as US Doctors For Africa (USDFA), which is dedicated to combating the AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. Or you can work on the policy end, pursuing a graduate degree in Public Health. Some schools, including the Harvard School of Public Health, have programs specifically designed to end the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Talk to a career counselor about these and similar programs.

• 4

  Become an intelligent consumer. Some companies donate a certain portion of their profits to this cause. (RED) was founded by Bono, activist and musician in the band U2. (RED) works by allowing companies to place the (RED) logo on their products if they donate a portion of the profit to the Global Fund, a nonprofit organization that works to combat AIDS in Africa. Most recently, (RED) has launched an online subscription music service. For more information about (RED), visit www.joinred.com.