Why South Africa?

South Africa is currently experiencing one of the most severe AIDS epidemics in the world. By the end of 2005, there were 5.5 million people living with HIV in South Africa.

UNAIDS estimated that there were 1.2 million South African children orphaned by AIDS in 2005.

Children are more at risk in some places than in others. In South Africa, for example, there is a myth that sex with a virgin can "cure" a man of HIV, thus leading to a large number of rapes of very young children by men infected with HIV.

Many women who are HIV-positive still not receiving drugs that could prevent passing HIV to their babies, HIV infections are alarmingly common amongst children in South Africa. In 2006, according to government antenatal surveys, there were around 260,000 children aged below 15 living with HIV in South Africa.

  • In South Africa, 1000 people are dying daily of AIDS-related diseases, many of them infants and children.
  • On average, women are affected with the HIV virus at a much younger age than men.
  • Children are caring for their dying. AIDS infected parents - at a great detriment to their own health and emotional well-being.
  • Girls caring for their dying mothers are often sexually exploited because of their need for emotional support. Such girls become pregnant or become infected with HIV - or BOTH.
  • The average household consists of a GOGO (grandmother) with between 6 and 16 children.

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    Our Favorites from 2007

    Our Journey, Inc., founded in 2004, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization currently working in South Africa in conjunction with The Valley Outreach Program, a community out-reach project that focuses on providing basic necessities for families decimated by AIDS.