I have known the word AIDS or HIV since I was an elementary school student though I didnt know the present condition of damages resulted from AIDS or HIV in the world. The other day, I was surprised and sad to hear the UNAIDS report which said that 58 million people have been infected with HIV and 22 million people died of AIDS during last 20 years. What can we do and what should government do? .
Do you know a boy named Nkosi Johnson who had had to fight against HIV from the moment of his birth? I knew him on TV the other day. As one of Africas millions of AIDS-stricken children, he had to battle those who didn't want to let him go to school. And when he was sick, his own body turned traitor, but Nkosi had a real advocate in Ms. Gail Johnson, the woman who adopted him from a care center at which she once worked. His mother had to give him up because she herself was dying of AIDS.
Now, Ms. Johnson has begun a project she calls Nkosis Haven, a home for women and children with AIDS who have nowhere else to go. Because of her efforts, women who are AIDS sufferers can keep their children for the little time they may have together. There are 10 women living at Nkosis Haven with their children now. She also has adopted other AIDS orphans by taking food to them in the townships and paying for their schooling. Shed love to see Nkosis Haven Project caring for 15,000 women in two years time.
It's beg, borrow and steal at the moment, said Ms. Johnson. I need to raise a lot. Another dream she has is to raise $2 million in the United States. With the favorable exchange rate, she believes she could easily open and fund three more care centers. Forty-four women are on the waiting list for places there. And the need is growing. I need to know that I am offering comfort and . a life of substance to people who've been rejected, she said. I'd like to think I've given them some hope -- and a reason for just carrying on.