How would you feel?

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How would you feel?

How would you feel if you saw a four-year-old girl have to watch her mother die a slow painful death from AIDS? Well this is what millions of children face everyday living in Africa. Do you ever stop and think about how lucky you are to live a happy and healthy life or do you just take it for granted? An estimated 25 million adults and children are living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa, and AIDS has orphaned an estimated twelve million children.

HIV/AIDS is one of the biggest challenges the world faces today. The rate of infection is quickly increasing and more and more people are getting ill and dying from AIDS related illnesses. Of all the people living with AIDS in the world, it is now estimated that 6 out of every 10 men, 8 out of every 10 women and 9 out of every 10 children live in Africa. South Africa has one of the fastest growing rates of infection in the world. This is all because there is not enough money to teach these people about contraception and safe sex. Also, cultural beliefs play a part in women's rules in society. Just think how many lives could be saved if we could raise awareness about the causes of HIV/AIDS. However, because the problem of AIDS is so enormous it is a tremendous problem for charities to alleviate the suffering in Africa.

Families and communities are badly effected by the epidemic. The problem of care falls on the families and children of those who are ill. Often they have already lost a wage earner and the insufficient resources they have left are not enough to provide care for the ill person and food for the family. Imagine if one of your parents died. All of those luxuries of your play station, mobile phone and CD player would not be important because all you would be worrying about is where your next meal was coming from and if you had a roof over your head.
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Children who are orphaned are often deprived not only of parental care, but also of financial support. Many of them leave school and have no hope of ever getting a decent education or job. Visualise not being able to grow up to be that lawyer or doctor you have always desired to become because you parents are dead and you have to provide for your family. You are trapped like the prey of a defeated animal. You are lucky that you actually grow up; many adults die at a very young age and miss out on life. Some ...

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