Being an AIDS orphan in Swaziland is nothing to smile about at all, I mean with no one to look after you especially when all you need is care in a country that has about 69% of its population living below poverty line. Let me give you a brief insight in to the state of these Young Heroes, as one of the helpful organizations in Swaziland calls them. Take some time to read the article right to the end.
If projections are anything to go by the number of AIDS orphans in Swaziland increases at an alarming rate every year. Often these kids are left with no father or mother; there are, however so very few cases where you can find one sickly parent still alive. The condition is unbearable in bigger families because there is only one father to many children so when the father, who is usually the sole breadwinner, dies the children are left without the necessary care and healthy food to eat.
To make matters worse, often the mothers i.e. wives to the husband also get infected with the HIV virus. What follows is that the mothers die one after the other and the orphans are left to look out for themselves. Relatives do try to assist at times but in most cases are unable to due to the large number of children within a single homestead. As a result of these problems the children end up heading the home. In some you can find the oldest being around 5 years of age.
Just before the parents die the AIDS orphans actually become the parents to their parents i.e. the older one has to look after them and his or her siblings. In most instances the child is left drained because of the many chores such as cooking for the parents - since the parents have to take their medication on a full stomach.
To make matters worse, the elder child who becomes the head of the household often lacks some experience on how to take care of HIV infected people and thus become vulnerable to being infected with the HIV virus.
While trying to get to grips with being parent, student and everything else, time passes on for the orphans of AIDS to grow and enjoy life like any normal child. I mean, before heading off to school, for those that do get the opportunity to go to school, they have to do what parents normally do when sending off their kids to school. I mean, wake the other younger sisters and brothers, bath them, get them something to eat - if by chance there is food in the house and then send them off to school.
Most often these children have to walk long distances on barefoot just to get to school. In most cases they go to school on an empty stomach. No one can fully comprehend what these kids go through in winter without something descent to wear and proper school uniform and even summer under the boiling African sun.
There is no doubt that AIDS orphans in Swaziland need as much assistance from people within the country and even outside the country. I have seen how some of these little ones have managed to defy all odds and made a good life for themselves. I know someone who grew up under these terrible conditions but has managed to make it in life. It took only one kind person who saw beyond his disadvantages and realized what a great person that orphan of AIDS could be.