AIDS in SubSaharan Africa - Part 2 The Children - Page 2

There are many instances of baby girls of only a few months old being savagely raped.

Recently, I visited South Africa and experienced this tragedy first hand. Here are but a few of the stories from that trip.

In a mud brick home, with a corrugated iron roof stained black from the smoke of cooking fire that had once provided energy for cooking family meals, lay a young man. He is the last of his family. His body is emaciated, withered and dying. Medicine is given to ease the pain, prayers are sent up to the heavens in the vain hope of relief, tears flow.

In yet another mud brick home we came across a young teenage girl who was dying of AIDS. She was lying in a bed that had seen death 4 times before. Those few people left in her family had resigned themselves to her death and were not feeding her, a type of passive euthanasia.

At a small newly established orphanage we came across 6 beautiful little children who had a zest for life and would not leave us alone. They all wanted to be picked up and carried at once. We were told that each of the children had been sexually abused.

A little girl who had been left in the care of her Grandmother was allowed by her to be raped for money. She was rescued and taken to an orphanage. At the time she was only 5 years old.

There are many more stories and it is difficult not to become emotional when reflecting upon them. I urge you to check out the links, become informed and do what you can to inform others.

Submitting to the discussions and poetry links is but one way for us to flesh out the issues and to create awareness. Perhaps it will inspire some to take steps which could change the outcomes, if only for a few.