PROVIDENCE – HIV and AIDS have heavily impacted the African continent leaving more than 1.5 million orphans in Kenya alone, where hundreds of thousands of young teens have been left with the responsibility of raising younger siblings and caring for aging grandparents.
Robert Makunu, Deputy HIV/AIDS Unit Manager for Catholic Relief Services, Kenya, spoke at several area Catholic schools last week and was scheduled to address those attending the opening of “The Children Left Behind: AIDS Orphans Around the World” on December 16 at the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center in Pawtucket. The presentation was canceled because of inclement weather.
The multi-media display is sponsored by the diocesan Office of HIV/AIDS Ministry in collaboration with Catholic Relief Services and will be open until January 10, 2008, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., at the visitor center, 175 Main St., Pawtucket. For more information, call Richard Andrade at 421-7833, ext. 126.
Makunu’s speaking tour was organized to promote awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on the African continent and its prevalence in several Sub-Saharan countries. He addressed classes at the San Miguel School, and at Bishop Hendricken and La Salle High Schools, and met with local corporate donors.
The speaker noted that in Kenya, with an estimated population of 37 million, about 6.7 percent suffer from HIV/AIDS. He added that an estimated 6 percent of the orphans are also infected.
“A whole generation has been wiped out,” Makunu said. In the case of case of who have lost one parent, the teens must care for the other dying parents and also often look after an aging grandparent.
The CRS official said that there are tens of thousands of child-headed households, many run by 12 and 13 year-olds, who act as mothers and fathers and raise their younger siblings.
CRS projects provide an education, a monthly food ration, school uniforms and supplies, and grief and personal counseling to the youths in their home.
“Without this support, we would be talking about a lost generation,” he observed.
Makunu stated that in some Kenyan villages, only elderly grandparents and children remain.
“There have been many deaths,” he acknowledged.
The registered clinical officer, who specializes in community health and strategic management, said that the orphans have not only lost parental love, but have also lost their childhood. Being forced to assume so much responsibility at such a vulnerable age causes depression and creates other psychological issues.
Makunu emphasized that without programs sponsored by CRS and other organizations, as well as the Kenyan government, many of the children would end up on the streets and be forced into child labor or prostitution.
“They would be vulnerable to the many other ills in society,” he said.
Candice Harris, an Advocacy Program Officer who accompanied Makunu on his speaking tour, said that she has made one trip to Kenya to observe CRS programs in that East African country.
“I was really amazed by the quality and effectiveness of the work,” she said, adding that the goal of the CRS program is to provide holistic support, including teaching abstinence as part of a life skills component. “We are following principles that we believe in,” Harris stated, noting that CRS provides technical and administrative support to dioceses and community-based agencies to strengthen communities to ensure sustainability.
“We compliment government efforts,” Makunu said.
He added that funding for CRS efforts comes from the PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief., as well as private donations.
Harris noted that PEPFAR 1, which has supplied $15 billion during the last five years to 15 focus countries to care for those suffering from or affected by HIV/AIDS, expires in September 2008, and Congress is expected to begin work in January to write new legislation.
CRS is asking Congress to reauthorize PEPFAR for another five years and to increase funding without negatively affecting other humanitarian and development accounts, and to retain provisions that allow faith-based groups to conduct evidence-based activities around abstinence, behavior change and partner reduction.
CRS is also calling on Congress to structure the next phase of PEPFAR so that humanitarian groups can more easily address nutritional needs and other concerns in communities affected by the disease, and to expand the current list of countries based on infection rates. Harris noted that CRS is currently working with HIV/AIDS patients in Central America, Vietnam and Haiti, in addition to several African nations.
She added that Catholics can support the legislation by asking their elected officials in Washington to support PEPFAR. She urged those interested to join the CRS Legislative Advocacy Network by registering at www.crs.org” or http://actioncenter.crs.org.
“We need a lot of resources,” Makunu said. “The kids are growing up. Supporting is not a one year event. We can’t abandon them midway.”
