Day 566: World AIDS Day

In case anyone doesn't know, today is World AIDS Day--a day that is set aside to think about and raise awareness and funding for AIDS and all the people it has affected.

Clearly, Claire and I have grown to know and love some children very affected by AIDS, but this is anything but a foreign problem. In Kenya, Claire and I were shocked by the stigma attached to the disease that would keep people from getting tested or seeking treatment--but it's not much better here in the U.S with ignorance and stereotypes continuing to plague this particular illness. Please today consider those who have suffered, and those who continue to suffer both at home and abroad. The roots of the AIDS epidemic run far deeper than any one person's particular health or story, as they are closely linked to society's biggest problems of inequality, poverty and and an inhumane lack of healthcare and health awareness. There is so much work to be done within each of us and within society as a whole to eliminate the stigma attached to this issue so that we can start working with those who need it most. Please today remember all the problems that this disease has brought to light, and think of ways that you can begin helping to cure this societal sickness.

For us, we want to remind people that a lot of our Hope Runs kids are AIDS orphans--meaning that they have been put into an orphanage because one or both of their parents have died of AIDS. Some of these kids have AIDS, a lot do not. However, other children have been put into the circumstances that brought them to the orphanage by the greater problems that exacerbate the AIDS epidemic--poor health, malnutrition, poverty, or a lack of education to name a few. These kids have been the cost of society's inability to deal with these issues, and we want to do all we can to minimize the number of such cases in the future. For now, though, Claire and I consider ourselves blessed that something brought these children into our own lives, though we cannot help but wish them a happier ending than they have come to expect.


1 comment:

christine said...

Well said.

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