Sunday, March 1, 2009

Caring & Protecting AIDS`Orphans


AIDS Orphans: Care, Protection and Education
James Achanyi-Fontem,
Cameroon Link
Worldwide, more than 14 Million children under the age of 15 have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Many of these children become responsible for the care of younger brothers and sisters. Some even become homeless and are forced to beg for food and money to survive.The arrival of Dr. Neal Rosenburg and Dr. Donna Taliaferro in Cammeron to research on HIV-related stigma with nursing students was symbolic of the fact that a child is born through the effort of love between a man and a woman. Gender promotion, as such has an important role in caring for children.
The following article is intended to help you understand the importance of having a will and designating a guardian for dependent children, so that if their parents die, the children will be provided for, and sisters and brothers can stay together. Cameroon Link also touches on the importance of keeping orphans in school.
This story is the summary of a recent discussion on how AIDS affects children, especially children who lose both parents to this disease. The statistics are shocking. Fourteen million children under age 15 have lost one or both parents to AIDS. What happens to these children? Sometimes the very worst — they are separated from brothers and sisters, forced to leave school and find work, and sometimes must even live on the streets and beg just to survive. But does it have to be this way?
Ngwibeteh knew that her sister was going to die, but still, it was a shock when she received the news. Linda died of AIDS. Her boy friend had died two years before of AIDS and the mother died of cancer. This is where the new challenge started as two children, a girl and a boy were left behind.. What would happen to Grace and Linda's children?
Julie had no choice as she has to take care of these children and her own two children. They are now like her own children, and she can not abandon them. But how is she Julie taking care of two more children, when she hardly has enough to feed our own?.
Not very far from their residence is a home where a girl down the road lost the mother to AIDS. She had to leave school because there was no money to pay the school fees! The last thing said about her is that she is living and working on the street. Julie. I does not want her niece and cousin to end up on the street.
While others thought otherwise, that the situation seemed hopeless, Julie knew that the best place for her elder sister’s children was with her and the husband, where things would be familiar and the children would be cared for. But at the same time, they have a problem. How can she and her husband possibly support two more children? They needed help and the help does not seem come from anywhere.
Cameroon Link on hearing about the sad case, visited Julie to discuss the will left behind by Grace, since cared for her children as a single parent. Unfortunately, nobody in the family knew that there could be a will, even though she had house estate.
Incidentally, though Grace was too preoccupied to tell the sister, she left her will in the hands of the chair of their credit union. She asked the credit union to help her execute the will when she passed away. At Cameroon Link that's one of the things staff organise counselling on, because most people are very worried about what would happen to their children if they are not there. Cameroon Link understands the importance of education for the future of children and assist in planning for HIV orphans, and this is one of things that came out of the will left behind by Grace and Linda.. They wanted their children to stay in school and this was put in their wills.
Apart from that Grace left her house and a small piece of land to her children. She wanted the sister Julie to hold the property in trust, and manage it. She hoped that, with access to her land, Julie would be able to support the children.
This is how the whole idea of convincing people to write their wills when they fall sick all started in communities covered by Cameroon Link. Those who do not know how to write wills contact the counsellors for guidance. Making a will is one way to protect children in the future. Family heads are advised to find a lawyer, a paralegal, a community leader, or a volunteer who can help you write a will. Making a will can allow children to stay together, to stay in school, to keep their family property and land, and to ensure a better future.

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